‘DOTr has no jurisdiction over railway fare hike’

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has no jurisdiction over the proposed fare increase for railways in Metro Manila, progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said yesterday.

While the DOTr can regulate land transportation under existing policies, Bayan said that it is the Public Service Act – through the Public Service Commission – that “expressly and specifically regulates railways as a public service.”

The DOTr’s Rail Regulatory Unit (RRU), it said, was created by a mere department order that cannot be superior to a law such as the Public Service Act.

Bayan filed its supplemental position paper calling on the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and the DOTr to withdraw petitions for fare hike for the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).

“We submit that the only regulatory power DOTr has with regards to railways, as per its enabling law, is the issuance of certificates of public convenience and inspection and registration,” said Bayan.

Bayan also stressed that the RRU, which is hearing the petitions for fare increases, is not an independent regulatory body since the DOTR secretary is its approving authority and that it is chaired by the DOTr undersecretary for railways.

“The DOTr secretary is also the chairperson of the LRTA, which is a petitioner for the fare hike. The DOTr secretary’s signature appears on the LRTA board resolution that approved the proposed fare hike,” read the supplemental position paper.

“The DOTr secretary is also the immediate superior of the MRT-3 general manager who can only file a petition for fare hike upon authorization by the DOTr secretary,” it added.

Bayan said “the petitioner cannot be simultaneously the approving authority. This is the very issue that led us to question the previous fare hike in 2015.”

The group also maintained that there is no reason to raise fares given that both the LRTA and the MRT-3 are subsidized by the government.