North Luzon Expressway (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)
MANILA — The government carefully studied and analyzed petitions to increase toll fees, assured Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Sunday.
Diokno issued the statement after the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. announced that it would implement an increase in toll fees starting June 15.
"The NLEX rate increase is for staggered implementation — not a one-time implementation. It is staggered over several years," Diokno told reporters in a Viber message.
"The (petitions to) increase (toll fees) piled up because of the inaction of previous administrations. The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration had to act on petitions from 2010. The petitions were carefully studied and analyzed. They were approved objectively and fairly.”
NLEX earlier said the Toll Regulatory Board approved the toll rate adjustment and authorized the implementation of an additional PHP7 in the open system and PHP0.36 per kilometer in the closed system.
The new rates were part of the authorized NLEX periodic adjustments due in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020.
Under the new toll fee matrix, motorists traveling anywhere within the open system will pay an additional PHP7 for Class 1 vehicles (regular cars and sports utility vehicles), PHP17 for Class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks), and PHP19 for Class 3 vehicles (large trucks).
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 the Subic Freeport Expressway (formerly Subic-Tipo).
Those traveling NLEX end-to-end between Metro Manila and Mabalacat City will pay an additional PHP33 for Class 1, PHP81 for Class 2 and PHP98 for Class 3 vehicles.
Diokno said the government needs to perform its contractual obligations.
"We're promoting PPPs [public-private partnerships]. And the government will have no credibility as a partner if it does not comply with its contractual obligations under past PPP contracts," he said. (PNA)
