CNN The Source interview of Sen. Win Gatchalian with Pinky Webb on RFID, Prepaid Load Forever Act and localized face-to-face learning

RFID

Q: Due to many problems brought about by the RFID, are you going to file a resolution on this and when then can the review begin?

SEN WIN: I think the first question to ask is, where is TRB? This should not have happened if TRB was on the ball monitoring, regulating and making sure the performance of the concessionaire, the operators are up to par. This is a long drawn problem already here in the north. We use the toll road, I use the toll road on a regular basis and I've experienced on and off RFID readers when I use the North Expressway, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't work and most often than not if it doesn't work you have to drive back and switch to another lane and this is the root cause of the problem, the RFID readers does not work 100% of the time and if doesn't work a lot of cars would back up and move to another lane and just imagine if trucks do that? That's why we're seeing all these pictures of monstrous traffic in the North, it's because of the faulty and non-functioning RFID readers. Now, this should not have happened all along because we have a regulator that monitors all of this and the basic premise here is we gave the operator the chance, the privilege to operate this, thinking that they will do a better job and they will give the Filipino consumers the best service possible and the regulator will monitor it and make sure that they are performing up to par but obviously they are not and we're still experiencing a lot of this monstrous traffic as we speak and the question here is, where is the regulator? How come the regulator is not doing its job in terms of cracking the whip and making sure that the operators are performing up to what is written in the concession agreement? because in the agreement it states there that in exchange for the privilege of operating the toll roads, you have to deliver the best service possible to our consumers.

Q: So you are laying the blame on two agencies, toll operator and the TRB? Is that correct Sir?

SEN WIN: Correct, we're holding them into account we are making sure that the accountability is exerted here because we have mechanisms to prevent this from happening, that's why we have TRB and that's why the TRB is there to make sure all of these things will not happen and the consumers will get the best possible service but since this is happening, we have no choice but for us legislators to step in and conduct inquiries which is actually not our job because our job is to make laws and to conduct oversight but since the regulator is not functioning well, we have no choice but to address the concerns and the complaints of our consumers. Then second, it's a technical problem, the RFID technology is not working and this has been going on for a very long time. Again, we call on the operators to repair and put in a system wherein it will work 100% of the time and the RFID readers will be perfect all the time or else we'll continue to see traffic building up every day.

Q: Do you support your brother's plan to possibly suspend the business permit of NLEX?

SEN WIN: I'm also a resident of Valenzuela and there are about 700,000 residents of Valenzuela and all of us experienced this horrendous traffic and bad service. To make matters worse, we are now mandated to pay in advance. So in exchange for paying in advance we get this traffic and faulty RFID readers. This is not the proper way of operating the toll road and this is not what is in the concession agreement... What we are trying to address here, the Mayor of Valenzuela and I, myself in a national sense is for the operators to be accountable to their performance because what is happening right now is because they are a monopoly, they seem to be quite complacent in doing their job and making sure that all of these readers and technical requirements are being addressed. Like I said this is not an overnight problem... The RFID is now mandated by the government, this exacerbated the problem because the system cannot take in the volume of cars coming into the RFID system. My point here is, if they have addressed this long before in the past then when this mandated system came in we will not have a problem anymore but it compounded and compounded and now we have reached this point.

Q: Do you support your brother's possible solution to suspend the business permit?

SEN WIN: It's really in the powers of the local government unit to suspend any business permit if it's detrimental to the well-being of its constituents. The local government can do that, I was a mayor before and all this, in any jurisdiction, all who has a business permit should conduct its business in a proper and to the best possible service to its constituents, the local government can revoke this business permit if it's not delivering its promises. So it is well within the authority of the Mayor in this case, Mayor Rex and since a lot of Valenzuelanos are already complaining to him, I support his move if this is the only way to hold the operator and the regulator into account.

Q: Do you think the full implementation of the system, do you think it should be delayed until possibly next year?

SEN WIN: This is a technical question and the obvious answer there is if your system is not ready to accept this volume of vehicles then you should not use it, if your system is not technically capable to implement 100% online service, 100% faultless service then don't use it. In this case don't use the RFID system, allow the consumers to use the highway because you cannot stop them from using the highway because you are not ready, it's absolute absurd to say "oh you cannot use the NLEX because our RFID system is not ready and we're still repairing it," that's absurd because all of us use the North Expressway. So in this case if the operator is saying that they are repairing it, they are not ready then allow the motorists to use the highway while they are repairing the system. Allow them to use the highway and don't charge them because it's your fault that your RFID system is not ready and not 100% operational. Don't fault the consumers for your mistakes, they granted you the privilege to operate this highway.

Q: Are you asking for a toll holiday?

SEN WIN: There is a big clamor to implement a toll holiday and I subscribe to that. It's a technical issue and should have been resolved a long time ago by the operator and validated by the regulator but we're at this point already... my view here is while you repair and upgrade your system to make sure these technical errors will not happen, let the motorists use the highway for free and implement a tollway holiday.

Prepaid Load Forever Act

Q: What is the status of this in the Senate?... dapat wala na daw expiration itong mga prepaid cards?

SEN WIN: If you remember, we have a law that bans the expiry date of gift checks and the basic concept here is you bought the gift check, you own the gift check, you can spend it anytime you want. This is the same concept with prepaid load, and data load because when you say prepaid it's not confined anymore to call and text but also to data. So the basic premise here is when you buy a prepaid load or prepaid card, that's your prepaid card already and you should be able to use it anytime you want. The telcos should not mandate you to use it within a certain timeframe because you already paid for this, you already own the load that's in that card. We already looked at other jurisdictions about this and there are jurisdictions that allow prepaid loads to be with the subscriber as long he wants. So this bill has been long overdue and I filed this a few years ago and this is in line to the increase use of data plans during the time of pandemic, as we all know a lot of students and teachers have been buying data plans, they should be able to use it at their own pace and time.

Q: When will this happen?

SEN WIN: We're going to hear this soon, we're just finishing up with the budget and I have requested the Chairman of the Public Services Committee, Chairman Grace Poe to prioritize this. A lot of our consumers have been clamoring for this because a lot of them have been losing a lot of money, forced to use the prepaid load in the things that they don't need. They are forced to comply with the rules of the telcos and a lot of our consumers are already frustrated because they have been losing a lot of money because of the expiry date.

Face-to-face classes

Q: You are for limited, localized face-to-face classes is this going to be a possibility next year? And if so, when?

SEN WIN: Hopefully soon because it's really challenging, I'll put my other hat on as the Chairman of the Basic Education Committee. It's very challenging delivering quality education using distance learning modality. Right now the only choice is what we call the distance learning modality wherein the students are being given physical, self-learning modules and the students are expected to learn by themselves. Personally, I have been getting a lot of calls from Mayors and principals, teachers, getting a lot of feedback and it's very difficult because, still we have parents who did not graduate elementary or high school, we have parents who are not confident in tutoring their children and this presents a problem for the child because the child especially from kindergarten to grade three, this age level is where we need parent intervention but if the parents themselves are not confident to teach their children then this becomes a problem. So the concept here is to come up with a very localized, limited face-to-face classes, meaning we can hold small workshops or small groups of students probably around 10 students and a teacher will help them, tutor them, help them understand what they are supposed to learn. This is important because the child needs interaction, the learner needs a lot of interaction especially in a lot of complicated subjects and this is where the role of the teachers will come in.

Q: do you support these learning hubs that were put up by the Office of the Vice President?

SEN WIN: I'm not very sure on the mechanism of those learning hubs.. I'm not really sure how it operates what I support is the US version of what they call 'learning pods' and this is actually being done in the US because in the US they also had a study that it's impossible to completely cut off the teacher from the learners because there are cases wherein the teacher should be able to explain the concepts to the learners. So what they did in the US, they launched what they called the learning pods and this is equivalent to the purok workshops that I'm talking about. In the US they have 10 students and the teacher will go there and the students will practice social distancing, wearing of face masks, it's very limited in terms of number of days, the teachers will only go there once a week, probably maximum of two hours a day so the student can have some engagement with the teacher. That model is being practiced in a lot of countries already.

Red-tagging

Q: do you support, or do you agree that red-tagging should be criminalized?

SEN WIN: Well as far I have seen on TV and read on the internet, it's important that when you tag anyone, and if you label anyone and if you brand anyone, you have to have concrete evidence. You have to have strong evidence to tag anyone, for that matter. You cannot just call someone or tag anyone this label without concrete evidence. So my point of view is, you have to have concrete evidence. I trust that the government has solid intelligence, solid information when they tag certain personalities but the basic concept here is you have to have evidence or else it will be purely malicious.

Q: Are you for or against?

SEN WIN: if you don't have the evidence I think it's wrong to tag individuals. As to criminalizing it, I have to study it carefully.