BY GERARD NAVAL and WENDELL VIGILIA
THE Office of the Vice President (OVP) can continue its medical assistance programs like the “Vaccine Express,” “Swab Cab,” and “Bayanihan E-konsulta” amid a ban on election spending.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday approved the applications for exemption sought by the OVP and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) from the 45-day election spending ban.
The ban on the release, disbursement, or expenditure of public funds starts on March 25.
The exemptions were granted during the Comelec’s en banc session, said Commissioner George Garcia.
The office of Vice President Leni Robredo has asked the Comelec to exempt its COVID-19 pandemic response programs, saying these are badly needed by the public, especially with recent spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Robredo, the opposition’s presidential candidate, has said she wanted the projects to be isolated from politics, and vowed not to attend the initiatives so these would not be tainted with politics.
Robredo has even vowed to have the programs’ logos redesigned so that these will not be identified with her as she pursues her presidential bid.
The DSWD sought exemption for its emergency financial assistance for marginalized sectors and relief operations for families affected by typhoon “Odette.”
Robredo’s camp thanked the Comelec for allowing her office to continue her projects during the remainder of the campaign period.
“This will ensure that Angat Buhay projects which have helped hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the past six years can continue to bring hope to communities all over the Philippines,” said Robredo’s spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez.
Robredo and and her running mate Sen. Francis Pangilinan yesterday barnstormed Tarlac, the province of the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who was the Liberal Party’s chairman emeritus until his death in June last year.
In Capas, Robredo was endorsed by Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan who remembered three Aquinos: Noynoy, his mother former president Corazon C. Aquino, and his martyred father former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino.
At the Luis Morales Park in Moncada, a manifesto of support for Robredo’s presidential bid was read.
Cory’s brother, former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, attended the event to show support for Robredo, the LP’s chairman, Pangilinan and their senatorial slate.
In Santa Ignacia, Robredo was endorsed by Mayor Nora Modomo, who introduced her as “my President” during a mini rally.
As of 5:30 p.m., around 35,000 people have gathered in Tarlac City for the tandem’s grand rally.
On Tuesday in a campaign rally in Nueva Ecija, Robredo asked a crowd of around 50,000 supporters to examine their chosen candidates. She said it does not make any sense when a candidate claims to be anti-corruption when he is a tax evader.
Robredo made the plea a few days after she slammed former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for aspiring to be president while his family has not paid P203 billion in estate taxes to the government.
“‘Pag sinabi pong ayaw sa korapsyon, hanapan natin ng resibo. E papaano naman ayaw sa korapsyon kung hindi nga nagbabayad ng buwis? (When they say they’re against corruption, let’s look for receipt. How can you be anti-corruption when you don’t pay your taxes?” she told the crowd in San Jose City.
The Vice President earlier said the Marcos family’s billions in tax debts render the former senator unfit and unqualified for the highest post in the land.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Presidential Commission on Good Government have been trying to collect from the Marcos family unpaid estate taxes worth P23 billion in 1997. Lawyers who are contesting the younger Marcos’ presidential bid said the amount has now reached more than P203 billion.
Addressing the Novo Ecijano crowd, Robredo said the Office of the Vice President exemplifies her anti-graft and corruption stance, winning the Commission on Audit’s highest rating for three consecutive years.
“Hindi na po ‘yun kami lang nagsasabi pero isang independent na government agency ang nagsasabi, malinis ang aming pagpapatakbo (We are not the only one saying that, but an independent government agency. It proves that we run things cleanly),”
She then encouraged voters to verify all the information they receive, especially on social media and on Youtube, which are being used for spreading fake news and disinformation.
Robredo also called for a comprehensive review for a possible suspension of the Rice Tarification Law to protect local farmers from imported rice which is the leading agricultural product of Nueva Ecija, which is called the “Rice Granary of the Philippines.”
Former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III, campaign manager and spokesman for the “Tropang Angat” senatorial slate, said a review of the law is in order “because there is no law that is carved in stone.”
“The provision of the law that helps, let’s maximize. The provisions that hurt, let’s minimize. Pero ang bottom line, palakasin ang sektor ng pagsasaka (But the bottomline is always to strengthen the agricultural sector),” he said.
In February 2019, Congress passed the Rice Tariffication Law that removed the “quantitative restriction” or the ban on the import of rice from other countries. In the process, the law lifted the sole authority given to the National Food Authority to import rice. It allowed private traders to import rice, provided that they pay the corresponding tariffs or taxes to the government.
Any amount of rice from countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can be imported at 35 percent tariff and at about 50 percent tariff for rice from non-ASEAN countries.
Former Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, son of a retired official of the Department of Agriculture who is a member of the Tropang Angat senatorial slate, said Congress must examine how the law is being implemented.
“Baka artificial lang din ang bagsak presyo na kalaunan ay tataas din kapag monopolyado na ang merkado (The dip in prices could be artificial and may shoot up when the market is monopolized),” he said, adding that government should also look into the distribution of the promised fund to the farmers.
Under the law, a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund would be sourced from tariff revenues, and at least 10 billion pesos should be allocated annually, for six years, to support local rice farmers.
The fund is supposed to be used for programs aimed at improving the competitiveness of local farmers and augmenting their income amidst the liberalization of the rice trade policy.
