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DOTC Assistant Secretary Roberto Lastimoso said that the construction of a power plant exclusively for the use of Metro Manila’s rail transit systems will cut the electrical cost incurred by the LRT and the MRT by P5 million a month.

 This was the consensus reached after a dialogue with different power producers was conducted, Lastimoso said. Lastimoso, who is now the general manager of the Metro Star Express serving the EDSA route, made the statement to the media at the Makati Business Forum held at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati last Thursday (Sept 16).

Unless cost cutting measures are set in place, fare increases in the Metro rail transit systems plying the three different routes in Metro Manila cannot be avoided, Lastimoso said. These projects were done under the BOT law, he explained, and are also burdened with debt servicing due to the fluctuation of the peso-dollar exchange rate.

The LRT serves the Baclaran to Monumento route, while the Metro Star Express now being managed by Lastimoso was constructed to serve the EDSA route and ease traffic congestion there. Another rail transit system is now partially serving the Manila to Marikina route.

Increase in electricity rate is also inevitable, Lastimoso further explained, and Meralco is not in a position to give discounts to the transit systems. Having no recourse from Meralco to cut the cost of electricity, a dialogue with the other independent power producers was conducted and it was there that the consensus of building a power plant to supply the power requirements of the railway transit systems was made, he added.

Despite reported accidents, the safest mode of transportation is the rail, Lastimoso emphasized. The rail transit system has only 4% incidents of accident in the world, he said. Two accidents caused by voltage variation were incurred by the LRT last year. One lady passenger was reported injured because of a mild stampede that followed.  (Excalibur News)

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Akbayan representatives Etta Rosales, Mario Aguja and Risa Hontiveros Baraquil introduced House Bill 2854 in Congress requiring the government to set-up Human Rights Resources Centers in the provinces to help the Human Rights Commission implement its mandate of addressing the enforcement of human rights precepts in the making and enforcement of the law. Party list Representative Etta Rosales made the announcement at The Makati Business Forum held at the Dusit Hotel Nikko in Makati last Thursday (Sept. 16).

 The Human Rights Commission and its 16 regional chapters are hardly in a position to reach out to the 78 provinces, 1,496 towns, 114 cities and 44,960 barangays throughout the country, Rosales said.

 HB 2854 seeks to strengthen the Philippine commitment for the promotion and protection of human rights, by establishing Human Rights Resources Centers throughout the country. The centers can also be used for other human rights related purposes, Rosales added.

 According to Rosales, a National Committee composed of the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights as chairperson, the chairperson of the Civil Service Commission as vice-chairperson, and one representative each from DECS, DND, DOJ, DSWD, DOF, DOLE, DILG, PNP, as well as from two non-government human rights organizations as members, will take the lead in the preparation and implementation of the guidelines.

 To realize further the noble objectives of the law, Rosales calls on all local government executives to pass on ordinances providing for the promotion and protection of human rights in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

 Rosales explained that the law declared December 4-10 as International Human Rights Consciousness Week. It enjoins all government agencies to celebrate the week, through simple and appropriate ceremonies, to make the people aware of their basic human rights in relation to the functions and services being offered by government. The law also enjoins all educational institutions to celebrate the week, through simple and appropriate ceremonies and activities, to propagate a human rights culture that aims at sustainable development in the country, she added.

 Reacting to the questions coming from the media Rosales said that technically we have a fiscal crisis. She traces the root of the problem with historical debt management policy, which resulted to the debt problem and debt crisis. The highest chunk of our foreign debts (P5.47 trillion), according to her, comes from the government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) with Napocor as the biggest of them all.

There must be transparency in all transactions, tax or tariff collection in the Customs, pension institutions like the SSS and the GSIS, Rosales told the media. Their transactions should not be done in a clandestine manner, she said.

 Rosales does not favor rehiring of already retired personnel. They already have served and collected their retirement benefits from the government and yet hired for another position, an act that is against the law, she stressed. She is also against the public display of apprehended criminals saying that after all they are presumed innocent until proven guilty following due  process in the courts of law. (Excalibur News)

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