WHILE the man in the mirror was celebrating, he was pounding this column in his laptop.
This should have been done away with a day before the so-called Big Day in the life of the mirror man, but there are errands you just can’t say no to. Busy preparing for the coming bash…and then bam, and the mirror man was being sent to buy suka. Sadly sideswiped in the process was the early completion (submission to Mam Sweetie Tet) of this.
Anyway, having said that, I just heard Ted Failon, one of the nation’s top radio/television journalists, say that there seems no end to the woes of our motorists regarding the issuance of their driver’s licenses and car plates from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
In his exceedingly popular “Failon Ngayon” teleradyo program 8 to 10 a.m. over ABS-CBN’s dzMM on Tuesday, Failon cited anew what appeared to be an infamously known anomalous contract between the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and a private businessman regarding the purchase of the controversial vehicle plates.
It was inked supposedly in July 2014 yet, with no less than the Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, signing for the government together with his private counterpart—the chief of the Power Plates company that had won the contract. Allegedly, the billion-peso deal was clinched without the benefit of a bidding as supposedly required by law.
You know how much money did the contract stipulate? More than P3.8 billion to be paid by the government to Power Plates!
It was for the purchase of vehicle plates to replace the old ones nationwide, to be delivered to the DOTC 30 days upon signing of the billion-peso contract. Up to now, the plates remained unaccounted for—but that’s going ahead of the story.
Power Plates had “partnered” with a Dutch entity, according to records researched by Failon’s staff.
But do you know how much the alleged Dutch company invested into Power Plates?
“One hundred pesos,” Failon said. The vehicle plates from the Netherlands have arrived, yes, but they got stalled at the pier due to the importer’s alleged failure to pay taxes.
Only P100 million in taxes and the importer, winning a P3.8-billion contract for the plates’ purchase, could not produce that measly amount?
Worst, the Commission on Audit (COA) got into the fray after reportedly discovering some anomalies in the contract. The COA would soon file raps against several government factotums, including the resigned LTO chief Alfonso Tan.
But now look at this: After the vehicle plates had stayed a bit too long at the pier, Customs Commissioner Albert D. Lina had them released “for the benefit of our poor, suffering motorists.”
What to do with the plates, the DOTC is still in the dark at this writing. The government has been sorting out matters for nearly two years now, with even Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima reportedly in the mix now.
Meanwhile, Jake P. Ayson’s Innova has yet to have its new plates. Worst, he was assessed a P75 penalty for renewing his driver’s license expiring on April 17 (his birthday, of course).
“April 17 fell on a Sunday that is why I went to the LTO on April 18,” Ayson said. “But the cashier said it’s the law. I asked about the provision and she couldn’t show me anything. I asked for the manager and the manager was absent. It’s not the money, it’s the principle.”
He said he also paid more than P200 for the medical tests, like eye checkup.
Ah, this eye checkup.
They ask you to identify the alphabet, from the biggest to the smallest letters.
I say this is idiocy of the highest kind.
Are even the biggest letters in the chart that they want you to identify during the eye checkup of the same size as the vehicles that you deal with on the road?
“You make sense there, partner,” said Sen. Tito Sotto, the author of a bill mandating buckle seats when driving.
I told Ayson the mirror man’s license has yet to be retrieved one year after it was filed for renewal (April 19). The mirror man’s vehicle plate, too, has remained unchanged two years after registration.
“April boys are ever patient,” Ayson said. “But once they erupt, their wrath can make Mount Pinatubo’s anger a mere whimper.”
PEE STOP. While SUV stands for sport-utility vehicle, LUV is life-utility vehicle. Only Suzuki uses LUV, and it has the Ertiga to prove it. Well, LUV is but apt because Suzuki’s slogan is Way of Life! And since the Ertiga’s price starts at P665,000, why, that’s a killer!…Isuzu trucks capture 54 percent of Philippine market and my Isuzu friends Hajime Koso, Takashi Tamita and Art Balmadrid are all smiles. But, of course. Cheers!