Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government has to honor its contractual obligations, otherwise it loses its credibility in future contracts.
Diokno made this comment in relation to reports over the weekend there will be an increase in the North Luzon Expressway’s (NLEX) toll fees beginning June 15, with the adjustment approved by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).
“The increase piled up because of the inaction of previous administrations. The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration had to act on petitions from 2010,” he said.
Diokno said the petitions were carefully studied and analyzed, and that they were approved objectively and fairly.
“Government needs to perform its contractual obligations under the STOAs (supplemental toll operations agreements),” Diokno said.
“We’re promoting PPPs (public-private partnerships). The government will have no credibility as a partner if it does not comply with its contractual obligations under past PPP contracts,” he added.
Over the weekend, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp unit NLEX Corp. said the TRB has approved an additional P7 toll adjustment in the open system and P0.36 per kilometer in the closed system which is part of the NLEX periodic adjustment due in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020.
In May last year, NLEX also obtained approval from TRB to increase its toll by P2 in the open system and P0.34 per kilometer in the closed system. These were part of the periodic adjustment.
TRB allowed NLEX to collect this year the fourth and last tranche of the 2012 and 2014 periodic adjustments and only half of the 2018 and 2020 increases to help “curb the existing inflationary situation and cushion their impact on the users of the expressway.”
Under the new toll fee matrix, motorists traveling within the open system will pay an additional P7 for class 1 vehicles such as regular cars and SUVs; P17 for class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks and for class 3 vehicles an additional P19.
The open system is from Metro Manila in the cities of Navotas, Valenzuela, and Caloocan to Marilao, Bulacan while the closed system covers the portion between Bocaue, Bulacan, and Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, Pampanga including Subic-Tipo.
Those traveling the NLEX end-to-end between Metro Manila and Mabalacat City will pay an additional P33 for Class 1, P81 for Class 2, and P98 for Class 3 vehicles. Angela Celis and Myla Iglesias
