For Chavit Singson, credibility’s everything

Declaring that he has come to a point where he has found contentment in his life, Luis Crisologo Singson said he is running for Senator in the 2025 mid-term elections to help uplift the lives of disadvantaged Filipinos.

Speaking before members of the prestigious Rotary Club of Manila during the Club’s weekly luncheon meeting at the Manila Polo Club in Makati, last Thursday, 21 November 2024, the former Ilocos Sur governor said he would like to throw his hat in the political arena and vie for a Senate seat in the 2025 midterm elections to assist and empower two particular sectors of the populace: unbanked Filipinos, and those whose livelihoods are dependent on providing public transport services.

“I want to help the masses through something that I have already been doing in Ilocos Sur, that is, giving people nationwide a bank account, and credit and debit cards that can be used internationally, through my digital bank, B Bank — all free of charge,” he said.

Banko ng Masa

He pointed out that “77 percent of Filipinos don’t have a bank account and 91 percent do not have a credit card,” thus, giving Filipinos financial inclusion is the main purpose behind the Banko ng Masa which Singson says will be created and aimed at providing Filipinos with universal access to banking services, especially those outside the traditional financial mainstream.

The plan, according to Singson, is to target Filipinos 18 and above as well as overseas Filipino workers, giving them access to a bank account and a credit/debit card, and for OFWs, lower remittance fees also.

“This will be done through my bank, a national bank created by a Japanese entity, Hitachi which I call now the B Bank, the bank of the masa,” he said.

Win or lose

Singson stressed that this initiative will be done whether he wins or loses in the elections.

The other thing that Singson is keen on is participating in the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), through his provision of electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys) at much lower prices so poor jeepney drivers are enabled to comply with the government’s PUVMP.

As earlier reported, Singson had offered his subsidy scheme for the purchase of e-jeepneys to the Department of Transportation. “I have my factory (producing) electric vehicles in Korea, in Gangwon province and the first e-jeepney prototype assembled in South Korea will soon be arriving,” he said.

Singson’s e-jeepney will look like the public utility jeepneys that are familiar to the Filipino commuting public. The difference is that these will be equipped with a door, will be built taller, with air-conditioning to make passengers more comfortable, and will seat 22 passengers, and six more, standing.

Costing some P2 million per vehicle, Singson said half of the vehicle’s price — P1.2 million — will be paid under a rent-to-own arrangement, with no down payment. “A driver will just have to pay half of his daily income to his driver’s association which, in turn, will remit to my company,” he said.

A factor compelling him to run for Senator is that he said while he has a manufacturing facility with Korean partners in South Korea, his long-time dream is to build his own economic zone in the country.

His dream

“I have my own LCS Group of companies in Incheon in an economic zone in South Korean. I wanted to put up one here but it’s very hard, it was never approved in the Senate. So that’s one of the reasons why I want to run for the Senate. To realize my dream to have an economic zone,” he said.

Toward the end of his speech before the Rotary Club of Manila, Singson shared what he said he learned from his parents.

“I learned a lot of things from them. From my mother, I learned not to put all my eggs in one basket. And one thing I cannot forget from my father is that one should only have one word (‘isang salita lang’). If you say something, you have to do it. Otherwise you will lose credibility. And if that happens, you will be a nobody, no one will believe you anymore if you lose your credibility,” he said.