NU12 by Mike Ligayo - Speed Limits when raining, regional...

Prof. Jorge,

Below is my 13th NU12. Please have it considered if there is any of my new entries that do not fit the qualifications.

Regards,
Michael Ligayo

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PROPOSED NEW LAWS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Back in High School, I once thought of becoming a lawyer to eventually enter into politics. But that dream never became a reality; instead I became a Chemical Engineer. This is probably the reason why I have quite a number of new ideas on what laws and ordinances to enact. I consider them new ideas since it seems that none of our politicians have ever thought of them.

Rainy Day Speed Limit

Road conditions change significantly during rains. Obviously, the roads become more slippery but at the same time, splashing water can become a safety hazard. Unfortunately, speed limits on our national highways and expressways do not consider such conditions. This means that regardless if the conditions is as safe as a sunny day or is a dangerous as a rainy day, the same speed limits apply. Thus, a driver is still allowed to run at 100kph despite continuously splashing water on the windshield of a nearby vehicle. (This is something I experienced and it is really very dangerous because you don't see anything in front of you.) Thus, there is a need to specify a speed limit when weather conditions change. Perhaps, 20kph lower than the current speed limit will do.

To help in the implementation, highways and expressways can install digital speed limit signs, which can be altered by Traffic Management if the need arises. For example, if you enter the South Luzon Expressway and there are no rains, the speed limit can remain as is, but when you reach a certain point that is raining, the speed limit sign is changed to match the weather condition prevailing in the area.

The implementation of such a system can significantly reduce accidents and will help drivers act accordingly. 3

Regional Taxation System

In our Economics class, it was reported that the minimum wage of the Philippines is set through a Regional Tripartite. This means that the minimum wage actually depends on the region / location of the company. Naturally, the more developed locations would have a higher minimum wage and vice versa for the less developed areas. In my thought, why not the same for taxation? The same scheme can be implemented for taxation, wherein, the higher tax will be implemented on areas considered to be developed such as NCR, Region 4A and Region 4B while areas such as ARMM and CAR will have lower tax since they are less developed. This system can be implemented for all kinds of taxes – from VAT to withholding tax to real estate tax to inheritance tax.

The biggest benefit of this type of taxation would be less migration of people. With smaller taxes on certain areas, people would choose not to migrate since migrating to a developed area would cause them to have higher tax and therefore, the take home pay might just be the same.

Further, businesses would also start venturing into the less developed areas since tax can cause their expenses to go high. They can take advantage of this system but at the same time help in developing the less developed areas of the country. 3

Use of Wastewater on Golf Courses

Golf courses are considered to be one of the major consumers of fresh water. They use this for many reasons but primarily on keeping the grass green. To the point of view of the ordinary person, this is a complete waste of freshwater resources. Instead of having it used for more productive purposes, the freshwater resource is being used to simply water grass. This is the basis of this new proposed law – that golf courses should only use wastewater or they can have a wastewater treatment facility built if they still want to use freshwater. There are several ways to implement:

·       Purchase treated wastewater from treatment facilities nearby

·       Build a "shared" facility with another golf course

·       Connect wastewater line from a factory, have primary treatment done before having it sprinkled

The main benefit of this proposed law is to minimize the use of freshwater on purposes not intended for human internal consumption. Also, this can seed other laws to come out that would help us in conserving our freshwater resources by ensuring that it is only used for the right purposes. 4 (walang amoy ha Mike)