SLTC announces toll increase amidst protests

MANILA, Philippines - Barely a month after taking over from the PNCC, which in itself was a long, drawn out battle that read more like a telenovela script than a contract dispute hearing, MTD, the Malaysian firm that operates the portion from the Alabang viaduct to Calamba, announced a 329% price increase along the 29 kilometer stretch that it operates and lit the equivalent of a forest fire with motorists and advocacy groups. Tempers flared, obscenities hurled, status updates and tweets were used like digital bullets and eventually, a petition was filed to calm everyone down.

Perhaps realizing the awkwardness of the timing, and as a sign of respect to our newly sworn in President, Dato Azmil Khalid, President and CEO MTD Group and chairman of South Luzon Tollway Corporation (SLTC), moved the implementation date to July 7, instead of the proposed date of today for obvious reasons.

This may have won the Dato some favor with the new government, but not with the chairman of the One United Transport Coalition party list (1 -UTAK), Atty. Vigor Mendoza, who has launched a scathing attack at the SLTC. “This is an unreasonable increase that should have been subject to a public hearing first,” Atty. Mendoza claimed in a telephone interview with The STAR. “They do not even have a legislative franchise, so in effect they are collecting their toll illegally by operating on the expired franchise of the PNCC, who have already been issued with a permanent injunction by the Pasig Regional Trial Court to cease collecting toll.”

When contacted for comment, Alma Tuason, spokesperson for SLTC, defended the proposed toll increases by claiming that the current rate is by far the lowest in the country, if not the world and feels that while the timing may have been off, the increase is not. “82 centavos per kilometer is the lowest toll rate for a BOT project. It is not a sustainable business model at that rate and was always scheduled for increase,” she explains during a private conversation with The STAR.

“And as far as the legislative franchise is concerned, the Philippine Government entered into a Supplemental Toll Operation Agreement with the SLTC back in February of 2006 which is recognized by the Toll Regulatory Board. We do not have anything to do with the expired franchise of the PNCC,” the SLTC spokesperson continued to stress.

When confronted with Atty Mendoza’s suggestion to perhaps stagger the increases, Mrs. Tuason explains that aside from the fact that the government does not allow incremental increases as sections are completed, motorists have been using the upgraded facilities of the SLEX (which includes an extra 292 linear kilometers of road) for a year and a half without any increase.

It is fair to mention, too, that despite completing their contractual requirements since April 2009, MTD were not able to collect toll until May 2 of 2010 due to a power struggle with the PNCC that turned violent last December after they refused to turn over operations to MTD despite an order from the TRB and Executive Secretary.

In effect, MTD lost over a year worth of collections on top of having to absorb the ongoing costs of their contract. But this has still not earned any sympathy from Atty. Mendoza who insists that the project must be 100% completed before adjusting tolls, such as the Calamba toll plaza, which is not rehabilitated and is causing traffic to worsen around the area.

The 1-UTAK chairman also points out that the SLEX toll increase to 2.70 per kilometer will effectively be 24% more expensive than the NLEX, which his party list finds unacceptable considering that the SLEX has more volume and is a far shorter road that is not as commuter friendly as its Northern counterpart.

As of press time, the SLTC was able to confirm that the new electronic toll collection system is now up and running and that the Calamba toll plaza will be completed in one month.

Currently, class 1 motorists are paying 22 pesos from Filinvest until Calamba. The July 7 price hike will force it up to 77 pesos. A public hearing has been scheduled for July 15 and the TRB is expected to make a ruling on it immediately.