BAGUIO CITY – To political candidates in Baguio City: Ponder this and ponder it hard: major-ity of Baguio City’s electorate dislike the road congestion fee plan hatched beforehand and sus-pected for implementation after election by some ranking officials at City Hall.
Their dislike for the road congestion fee plan indicates the manner how they will vote for can-didates in this coming May 12 election.
They spilled their beans of thoughts through social media that they won’t support for any poli-tician-candidate deemed favoring implementation of the road congestion fee plan for Baguio. For that matter alone, such a support, they intimated, will return only if such candidate- politi-cian manifests intention of breaking off from his/her road congestion fee pro stand.
Having gotten fully informed through ongoing political campaign sorties by candidates about the road congestion fee announced earlier by city mayor Benjamin Magalong in the company of some elected officials, many Baguio voters squawked their unfavorable reaction about the pro-posal of taxing motor vehicles operators entering the city’s Central Business District.
A proposal to tax vehicles called “road congestion fee” by its proponents has become of late, a bone of contention among voters, majority of whom flatly abhor its implementation across the city’s major thoroughfares.
In their discussion about it, it’s invariably connected on how they will vote for candidates this coming election. These voters intimated they will go out of their trodden ways to campaign against candidates pushing for the road congestion fee and, in like manner, won’t vote for them.
A plurality of these voters think they are making the right choice of thumbing down these poli-tician-candidates who only want to ram down into their throats the road congestion fee proposal without having even consulted the public in the first place.
Thus, it happens the road congestion fee proposal has now become a tough sell for the politi-cal candidates.
What mystifies voters is, why administration candidates have suddenly gone silent over the road congestion fee or avoid to talk about it at campaign sorties in the barangays, compelling voters to harbor suspicion that probably, there is something of an agenda hidden behind the Public-Private Partnership road traffic scheme.
Wild an idea it may be, then why in the first place do administration candidates not reject out-right the road congestion fee plan before the voters, they, knowing fully well a snowballing dis-like about it has risen from the ranks of the general populace?
In the course of the political campaigns, Magalong tried to assure voters that he will listen to the clamor of the public about the topic. However, there was no specific message from Magalong that he will call it quits about the congestion fee plan, neither did he send a message he will withdraw from it, hence, voters are taking the message of the city mayor with a grain of salt.
And given the fact that Magalong has allies entrenched at the Sangguniang Panglunsod who favor the road congestion fee plan, chances are, the plan might squeeze in, through majority vote.
Many voters who said while they hold the mayor and his allies at the SP in esteem for their positive works for the city, they, however, give them poor marks as regards their pro stand on the road congestion fee plan, a topic which has been trending as the political campaign draws to a conclusion.
As to whether their being given poor marks will translate to their names not written on the bal-lots by voters remains to be seen.
These voters want to make sure that the road congestion fee proposal will not enter the August portals of the Sangguniang Panglunsod (SP), where there, it will have the chance to be put on the agenda, debated, discussed and voted upon.
Once it will get SP approval through an ordinance, it will be next to impossible to overturn, even if Baguio constituents will go to court. Chances are, they will lose; the PPP road conges-tion fee will prevail.
Hence, voters are also determined that proponents of the road congestion fee will not get their votes.
By their action, a big chunk of voters is sending a message to proponents of the road congestion fee that the Public-private Partnership to tax people with vehicles is not conducive to improv-ing consumer satisfaction.
It follows behind the clamor and strong resounding voice of community opposition hunkered with the belief that the road congestion fee will only bring financial burden to motorists who will regularly travel the city’s Central Business District.
Highly suspicious of the private entity which broached the idea to Baguio officials of taxing city dwellers possessed of motor vehicles, residents would rather want that any move to decongest the city streets must be done through equity, or, in other words, by the city government with the full cooperation of the public.
This road congestion fee proposal has also turned a lot of residents very cynical. They are very suspicious as to who really was responsible in broaching the idea of taxing residents at the roads? Was it really a private company or was it through the invitation of some elected Baguio of-ficials?
The private entity that want to take control of Baguio City’s traffic is not even Baguio-based, or outside of Cordillera Administrative Region.
As pundits explain it: “Nangalaan da (referring to this outside entity) ti laya da, nga umay da ditoy Baguio nga mang-turnos ti trapiko ditoy ket saan da met taga-Baguio? Apay nala-laing da ketdi nu dagiti pulis trapik ti Baguio wenno dagiti taga Baguio a mismo?”
Even when Magalong went out public saying to all and sundry that the congestion fee was only a proposal, the damage to the public was already done.
During the time the proposal was publicly announced, Political observers pointed out that Magalong may have missed a point (unassuming point but crucial just the same) by not prioritizing the dynamics of cultural sensitivity that automatically comes into play as regards implementation of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture?
In PPP, cultural sensitivity influences it. Building organizational capacity needed to run a road congestion fee plan while protecting public interest presents a major challenge to the company that proposed to manage Baguio’s traffic system. Whether it possesses the skills needed to lev-erage its operations in multi-disciplinary ways in a city which is deeply culture-sensitive remains to be seen.
Because during public presentation of the road congestion fee proposal which was attended by mayor Magalong, those who watched the live presentation noticed some failings like:
For the public sector, the private entity interested in taking over the city’s traffic and taxing us should have presented the project as it seeks to address the traffic by developing an innovation to improve the infrastructure network. But it didn’t. It merely offered to tax us. That, is no in-novation; it offered no innovation.
Second, stakeholders. It failed to address concerns of various parties, including local residents, facility (road) users and political representatives.
Third, it failed to show the process. It failed to apply and comply with prescriptive, standard operating procedures designed to provide uniformity and build consensus among stakeholders.
Fourth, policy goals. The private entity failed to project policy goals such as improvement to mobility and safety. It merely presented the amount that road users must pay without full explanation as to why such an amount must be paid mandatory.
And fifth, transparency. The private entity failed to share needed information with the public during its presentation to ensure public participation and accountability.
And even way back in June 20224, those who already have initial information about the road congestion fee — the jeepney drivers, business people, students and plain commuters already registered their objection to the road congestion fee.
Proponents pushing for the road congestion fee are waiting for the opportune time to execute a “deal done” unless the people of Baguio act to stop it on May 12 election through the power of their ballots by voting candidates who stand for their interest and not the other way around.
A hundred times, Daily Laborer asked a simple question by asking voters: “Anya makuna yu ngay kadagiti politicians tayo nga mang-sup-suportar idiay road congestion fee?”
And the voters simple answer is, “Awan dagita, palpak da, Malabo da!”
To this, Daily Laborer deadpans that we elect our leaders to lead who often have to support unpopular decisions.
Will the road congestion fee plan hurt chances of the political candidates backing the plan? It is a question difficult to answer.
However, if the gauge is to look at the reversal of support they previously enjoyed then their charisma to woo more voters has somehow been affected.
For who would believe a politician campaigning that the road congestion fee plan is good for everybody when the fact is, Baguio residents loathe it and find it as obstructionist by a private entity not from Baguio and with just the ultimate aim of profit from money of residents through a long period operation.
In fact, the road congestion fee plan is already aggravated by another plan of city officials regarding development of the city market that squeezed through majority vote at the Sangguni-ang Panlungsod a long time ago.
City market stall operators aren’t against development; what they want, specifically, is equity, or for the city to develop the market, in reasonable stages that won’t upend their daily search for livelihood.
Both the road congestion fee plan and the PPP Baguio City market present two clear cases of the city faced with privatization partnership that can impact local governance, public service delivery and culturally not accepted in totality by Baguio residents.
Such issues raised underscore the challenge of balancing governmental oversight with private operational efficiency, especially in a developing urban context like Baguio City steeped in cul-tural sensitivity and still clutching rustic values.
If it seems Baguio residents feel partially or wholly that City Hall has become distant in its ser-vice delivery by leaning too much on PPP or issuing business permits until it becomes splitting headaches for applicants, then it’s no wonder why a dark horse candidate for city mayor has suddenly emerged and taken a stand of “Bringing City Hall closer to the people.”
This dark horse is known at the campaign trails as Atty. Benny Bomogao, unheralded at the start of the campaign but rendering his campaign talks with a sense of humor, straightforward honesty, culturally sensitive, open-hearted and ever cheerful.
Many Baguio residents, irrespective of whether they own a motor vehicle or not, look at the congestion fee as an “unfair tax on working city residents and should never be implemented.”
Anger at the road congestion fee doesn’t mask their expressive feelings. Baguio resident Hu-bert Dulaan, who drives for a living, exclaimed: “We pay a toll to use the free roads when we fill up our gas tanks. We pay a form of toll when we register our vehicles or renew our drivers licenses. Oh, and the fares we pay to travel to work and from work to home. Those are tolls, too!”
Joel Bitongcol, Baguio resident, has this explanation: “Ganito na nga, na pahirap ang City Hall na magbigay ng business permit sa ga-toneladang taong pumipila para gusto makakuha ng business permit at magbenta para sa ikakabuhy nila, narito nanaman ang isang sakit ng ulo na road congestion fee.”
Many options are there to fixing the city’s road congestion, residents believe; taxing the al-ready overburdened Baguio taxpayer isn’t among the options.
