Hold MRT, LRT fare hike — Palace

MANILA, Philippines – No fare hike — yet — for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, the main train systems in the capital. 

Malacañang said on Friday, June 21, that a public consultation will still be held among stakeholders on the long-delayed P10 fare hike that Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya has said will finally push through this 2013.

“We understand that there may be some opposition to the plan of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). However, I understand from Secretary Jun Abaya that they intend to conduct public consultations again on their proposed hike,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said, adding that similar consultations were made under the administration of previous secretaries.

Abaya has said the fare increase is long overdue since the fares were last adjusted in the early 2000s. The fare hike was among the first that he announced he will implement when he assumed the DOTC portfolio in 2012. 

His predecessor, former DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas, has previously reasoned that it is unfair to taxpayers in other provinces if government continues to subsidize the fare of Metro Manila train commuters. Roxas has said that the government has spent P75 billion to subsidize MRT operations.

“Secretary Abaya has already given timetables and I would defer to him for the details on this. But we’re hoping that…with or without that, that there will be an improvement in the services,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte 

The proposed implementation involves a two-phase process: a P5 increase in August of 2013 and the next P5 increase in 2014.

With the new fares, traveling the entire length of the MRT — from Taft to North Avenue — will cost P28. For the LRT Lines 1 and 2, the maximum fares will be P30 and P25, respectively.

This will also lower the subsidy of the government to P35 per passenger from P60. 

Fare hike proposals have been perennially thumbed down after various sectors complained that this would add to the burden of consumers.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares has also threatened to block the DOTC budget over the proposed fare hike. Valte said this will affect the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the country’s airports that the DOTC is also spearheading. – Rappler.com