“An agreement made in which one gets something that is to his advantage but to the detriment of the stockholders. It’s an abnormally favorable contractual arrangement, like a lucrative golden parachute that is not in the best interests of the stockholders. It particularly applies to government officials and the terms and conditions may hint of corruption. These deals may put a third party at a distinct disadvantage—like you and other taxpaying dolts,” lectured one of our buddies, putting together the various definitions when we asked him what he thought about Leyte Representative and Senatorial candidate Martin Romualdez’s demand that a congressional investigation be made into the alleged P3.81-billion “sweetheart deal” the Department of Transportation and Communication signed for maintaining the Metro Rail Transit-3 without the benefit of a public bidding.
Romualdez was questioning why the agreement entered into with Korean-Filipino consortium Busan Transportation Corp. etc. did not have provisions that would protect the riding public from “hidden fare hikes”—an issue that youth groups and other activists have been protesting against a year ago when the DOTC decided to implement fare hikes for LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT3.
At the time, these government officials justified the fare hike by saying it is needed to upgrade the services of the rail system. Of course, that hasn’t happened. The coaches are still decrepit with some even leaking during a downpour, the system still keeps breaking down and commuters ride the trains at their own risk. To top it all, the thick-faced officials unapologetically admit that the added revenues will not do anything to improve the services of the MRT.
“It’s the DOTC, so don’t hold your breath,” our buddy answered with much irritation when we said maybe things would be better with the new contract. The bad mood which has been going on for days now, was triggered when he thought of renewing his driver’s license last Tuesday, two weeks ahead of its expiration because he didn’t want to get rushed, intending to celebrate his “golden age” with no hassle.
As (bad) luck would have it, the computer system went bonkers just 30 minutes after 2 p.m., going offline which made it impossible to continue the process. He persisted, deciding to wait until 4 p.m. until his impatience got the better of him. Adding to the annoyance was the discovery that the registration stickers and car plates for his vehicles are still unavailable —despite the fact that the renewals were done in June and July.
“I was told only car plates ending in 1, 2 and 3 are available,” he fumed, frustrated because he now wants to boycott renewing his license and registration for 2016 but afraid of the hassle it would cause in case he gets flagged down (again) by a super zealous MMDA or LTO operative. The plates, last we knew, are being held by the Bureau of Customs because the supplier did not have the cash to pay for the Customs duties. The LTO spokesman, when cornered by media men, had blamed the Commission on Audit for the inability of the supplier to pay the taxes, saying the COA’s issuance of a notice of disallowance last July 2015 prevented the LTO from paying the contractor. But the thing is, if the winning contractor really had the money to deliver its commitment for such a huge (and lucrative) contact, why was it dependent on the LTO’s payment in order to have the plates released? Did it mean it didn’t have the financial capability—which was one of the conditions/requirements for winning the deal?
“That’s probably another one of those sweetheart deals entered into by this BS government,” our now thoroughly annoyed buddy muttered, taking a swig of his favorite beer.
Sweetheart deals. They’re really such sour things to swallow especially by us taxpayers. What a way to start the year. But then again, with such people at the helm of government, it’s not surprising. Hopefully, May 2016 would bring on the change all of us need so badly. And if that happens, only then will we greet everybody, Happy New Year!
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