SENATORS on Tuesday filed a resolution seeking to defer the implementation of the simultaneous increases in fares at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the toll rates at the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways. 

“The move is downright anti-poor since 70 percent of the affected commuters earn less than P10,000 a month,” Sens. Joker Arroyo, Manuel Villar and Ralph Recto said in Resolution 602.

They cited the recent announcements on impending increased fares at the LRT and MRT lines, noting that these fare adjustments ranging up to 100 percent will affect at least 1.2 million passengers in both the LRT and MRT lines.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile also committed to support Resolution 602, saying: “The situation in the country is such as that there is too much burden on the public, and I think the government must be ready to subsidize public services for the benefit of the poor.”

Enrile explained that this is the same philosophy of the Aquino administration’s conditional cash-transfer program: “To subsidize the people who are not in the position to pay for themselves.”