EXPRESSWAY operators are demanding the government to implement their toll adjustments so they will have the financial muscle to continue improving the thoroughfares they are running. They made the call as the government seems to be deaf to their requests.
Two state officials, however, clarified that the government is considering two other options to compensate their investments: either extend their concession agreements or provide direct compensation.
Instead of increasing toll collected by expressway companies, the government is now looking at two options to lessen the already heavy brunt that Filipinos carry everyday, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson and Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Edmundo O. Reyes said in separate interviews.
“One option is to pay the company whatever it used to improve the road so it will not have an impact on the tariff. In effect, it will be handled by the national government,” Singson said.
He cited, for example, what the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) did for the newly opened Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.
With the construction of the aforesaid tollroad, the South Luzon Expressway (Slex), he explained, needed to add a fifth lane to accommodate the projected increase in traffic.
Hence, instead of allowing the company to raise toll and pester the consumers with higher rates, the government shelled out P200 million to shoulder the cost of the construction of the additional lane.
“There was an additional variation order, and the decision was rather than to pass this on the consumers, we at the DPWH shouldered it through a budget,” the Cabinet official said.
Another option is to extend the concession agreement, he added.
Reyes, however, clarified that these are all still under study. Nothing, he said, is concrete, yet.
“We will have to wait for the decision of the TRB Board. Hopefully, we’ll decide on how to move forward and provide as many options as possible soon,” the chief of the regulatory body said.
The options, he said, will remain on the table, despite the standing toll adjustment petitions from companies, like the Manila North Tollways Corp.
“What is important to consider is the legal basis of the action,” he said.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., whose companies operate the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (Sctex), has three standing petitions for toll adjustment before the TRB.
It is seeking to adjust rates by 15 percent for the Nlex, 25 percent for Cavitex and 19 percent for Sctex.
The petition for Nlex, for example, has been snubbed for three years now.
The first petition was due on the first of January 2013. The second one, submitted on the 30th of September last year, would bring the cumulative toll-rate adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent is long overdue.
The concession that the Pangilinan-controlled company holds allows for toll adjustments every two years.
Metro Pacific is the largest toll-road operator in the Philippines. It recently bagged the Cavite-Laguna Expressway deal from the public works agency.
The operators of Slex and Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star) withdrew their petitions in 2014, saying they need to “review and verify” their filings.
South Luzon Tollway Corp. and Star Infrastructure Development Corp. sought for a 33-percent increase in rates for the Slex, and 16 percent for Star.
The last time all toll roads in the Philippines adjusted their rates was in 2011.