SCUTTLEBUTT

Vince will convince

Even before officially clocking in as Transportation Secretary, Vince Dizon is making bold pronouncements. This time, he’s vowing to finally pull Metro Manila out of its car-obsessed gridlock and into a future driven by mass transit.

“The long-term, ultimate solution to traffic is mass transit. High capacity. We need trains, we need to add new train sets. We need the subway. These are the ultimate solutions but we need to complete them fast,” Dizon said in a press briefing at Malacañang on Friday.

Dizon said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants to fast-track mass transit projects to make commuting more efficient and push Filipinos away from their reliance on private vehicles.

“We have to veer away from that [car-centric Metro Manila] and that’s what the President wants,” he said.

But the city’s broken transport system isn’t just about trains and buses. Dizon stressed the need for proper sidewalks and bike lanes — basic infrastructure that Metro Manila still struggles to provide.

“Also making the environment in the city conducive for the people to walk. It’s so important. How can they walk if no infrastructure will allow them to walk?” he pointed out.

“Active transportation, bikes, walking — that’s very important. We have to build that and we have to plan for that. We just have to think out of the box and find ways like the EDSA Greenways. That’s one innovative way of helping our commuting public for those who want to walk,” he said.

Dizon has been at the forefront of infrastructure projects before, making big promises about efficiency and modernization. But as he steps into one of the toughest government posts, he finally may pull off resolving Metro Manila’s road problems past the excuses.

Loan mafia

A high-ranking corporate officer revealed that an increasing number of banks may be colluding with illegal fintech groups to extort money from low-income borrowers, including house helpers, tricycle drivers, and farmers.

“They operate through mobile apps, targeting drivers and house helpers because they can borrow P6,000 instantly. But then, they demand contact details of three friends and begin threatening them,” the officer said during a meeting with peers.

The meeting was attended by a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official.

The corporate officer said stories have been circulating that several Chinese businessmen are financing banks to carry out the scary lending operations.

“I hope I don’t get shot now, but some are even China-funded. Some are doing this because they just want to sell for 10 times the value in three years or something,” the corporate officer said.

A BSP official said the central bank is aware of the syndicated operations by aggressive lenders and financial scammers.

While the corporate officer asked for a BSP move to help stop lenders from terrorizing small borrowers, the gentleman said critical steps must come from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I have to check the law. I think fintech firms from abroad are not regulated by the central bank. The SEC is the regulator for lending investors,” the BSP official said.

However, the BSP helped create complaint mechanisms and punishments for scammers through the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act. This aims to protect the public from cybercriminals and criminal syndicates who target financial accounts or lure account owners into becoming accessories or perpetrators of fraudulent activities.