Gov. Benigno R. Fitial left for the Philippines Sunday night on a personal leave to accompany his wife, Josie, who will attend to an ailing family member. They will be back either on Wednesday or Thursday.
Before he acted on Senate Bill 17-68, which would have “temporarily suspended” the ETC program, Inos met with the leaderships of the House and the Senate.
Fitial earlier said the bill was a good idea.
Inos, for his part, said he conferred with the lawmakers to discuss the amendments the administration would like to see in the bill.
In his veto message, Inos said he acknowledges the need to reform the ETC program because it is not implemented as originally intended.
However, Inos said the bill will not carry out its intent because it will only generate very minimal revenue for the general fund.
Moreover, he added, “the overwhelming pleas by students and educational institutions alike to disapprove this measure cannot be ignored, especially considering that not a single letter of support for this measure was received by the administration.”
In an interview on Monday, Inos said “this is not what we are looking for,” referring to the ETC bill.
“We are looking at what we can achieve in savings and efficiency if we reform it and not necessarily suspend it,” he added.
