This coming election, the masses will be earning a windfall.

Just take what a mayoralty aspirant confided to me recently. When I told him that his moneyed opponent is already ubiquitous and generous in giving dole-outs to the hoi-polloi, this he told me: “Pabayaan mo siyang gumastos this early. Mabuti iyan para mabawasan ang yaman niya. But I want to tell you that my family is prepared to cough up to P100 million just to win the poll.”

This aspirant added he wants to show his opponent that the war ahead would be very expensive. He added that he would spend that mind-whopping amount just to win.

He doubts that his rival has even half of the saving he has for the war of attrition.

I learned a lot before what real politics from this veteran politician that I did not find in the political science books of Joaquin Bernas, Hector de Leon, and others that I used when I was teaching in college.

“In the past elections, my opponents bought votes at P300 for every voter; after hearing it my men swooped down to the place and instantly gave the same voter P500. If my opponent’s supporters come back and contests my P500, then I give a higher amount to the same voter,” he emphatically told me.

He said voters these days have no loyalty. They are like auctioneers. They capitulate to the highest bidder.

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Radio frequency Identification (RFID) is a chip attached to a sticker that is pasted to the front and rear windshield of a private vehicle.

Its critics say its real price is P85 for the two chips. But those entrepreneurial minds at Malacanang, Department of Transportation & Communication, and Land Transportation Office will sell it for P365. It’s a P280 kickback from each of the six million vehicles required by law in the Philippines to buy it.

It means a breathtaking P1.7 billion for the pockets of the few lucky individuals who cooked this program. The amount can be enough also to send somebody to the Senate and House next year.

But with the latest pronouncement of the National Economic Development Authority that the RFID is illegal because it did not pass to its Investment Coordinating Committee and it did not pass to a public bidding, I could see a lot of frustrations among criminal minds at Malacanang, DOTC, and LTO for the huge kickback that goes awry.

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The 120 members League of Cities (LCP) is ready to fight tooth and nail not to allow capital towns of the provinces without cities to become a city.

It says the proponent of House Bill 24, under discussion at the Committee on Local Government, should adhere to the Local Government Code and the Constitution.

The bill exempted the capital towns for the P100 million annual local tax collections for these towns as mandated by the amended requirement in the Local Government Code.

This happened because many capital towns can hardly collect even beyond P50 million marks.

“Cityhood is not the key to progress, it is good governance!” cried by the LCP.
Susmariosep, I disagree!

The reason why these capital towns are hell-bent to become a cities is because of progress.

Imagine, they no longer share the miniscule yearly Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) they get from the government. They will be sharing the mammoth IRA that gives each of the 120 cities an averaged of P40 million annually. With the entry of these 30 capital towns, the present cities would no longer receive the P40 million since they have to share some of it to the former.

Just take for instance the cities of San Carlos and Urdaneta in Pangasinan. San Carlos and Urdaneta can collect only a modicum P50 million, P63 million local taxes respectively.

But both get a behemoth P240 and P320, respectively, of IRA every year.

The LCP can be likened to a greedy lion that feasts on the carcass of its prey and would not allow other predators to partake of it. (Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)