Solon raps QC officials on access road toll fees

Rep. Dante Liban, who belongs to the administration party, made the denunciation after residents of Violago Homes in Batasan Hills, Barangay Silangan and Sitio Veterans, three of the biggest communities in his district, complained about the continued imposition of road fees by the Violago Homes Association (VHA).

Liban said a two-lane road traversing Violago Homes is the only access to the subdivision and the two other barangay communities where at least 30,000 families live.

He said VHA officers have imposed a per-trip fee ranging from P2 for tricycles to P1,000 for trucks for the use of the road despite the fact that a city ordinance bans the imposition of such tolls.

He said he had already sent several letters to the office of Mayor Ismael Mathay Jr. calling attention to the illegal practice, "but sadly, he has yet to take any action."

Ricardo Jose, an employee at the House who passes through the controversial road daily, said the toll is worse than the road user’s tax imposed by the National Government.

He said City Hall or the police should enforce the ordinance prohibiting such roads fees.

Liban also criticized city officials for their failure to field enough traffic aides to man the flow of vehicles along Batasan Road and Commonwealth Avenue.

Residents of villages in the Batasan and Fairview areas have denounced the monstrous daily traffic jams along the two major roads.

They said the concerned authorities are doing nothing to ease the congestion.

What exacerbates the problem is the fact that vendors impede the flow of traffic by occupying two lanes of Commonwealth Avenue near the Batasan Road intersection, they said.

City Hall has failed to relocate the vendors, they added.

They pointed out that the authorities have not fielded enough traffic aides and policemen to man the flow of vehicular and human traffic.