Sen. Recto wants govt agencies to justify fees

A lawmaker is challenging government agencies, which plan to raise their fees, to justify their proposed rate hikes on the back of looming adjustments in toll fees and utility rates. Senator Ralph Recto, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, stressed on Tuesday that these agencies should "prove beyond doubt that they are deserving of the additional centavos that the transacting public would shell out." Recto named the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are both planning to raise their service fees and charges by as much as 20 percent to 30 percent. Some of these government agencies have been consistently known as inefficient or corrupt, the senator said and stressed that they should improve their services. Recto likewise called on government to carefully scrutinize the planned increases especially since there are also proposed hikes in other commodities and services. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima had earlier said government is looking to raise fees slapped by state agencies in an effort to boost state coffers and improve government services. Raising charges up to 200% Some frontline government agencies, he said, would have to raise charges by up to 200 percent to shore up non-tax revenues for annual revenue increases of P4.15 billion. Purisima said other state agencies which are looking to raise fees include the National Statistics Office, the Land Transportation Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The National Economic and Development Authority is said to be studying government plans to increase its fees. The government wants to raise agency fees to raise more revenues and contain its budget deficit. The administration earlier said it plans to plug the 2011 budget deficit to roughly 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product or about P300 billion. — JMT/VS, GMA News