‘Look for other ways to solve financial problem of MRT lines’

Saturday, 31 July 2010 18:07

INSTEAD of increasing the fares of the Metro and Light Railway Transits, the government should look for less burdensome ways to solve the financial hemorrhage of the train lines.

Thus said Party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna even as he urged the government to retain the current MRT and LRT fares.

“Hundreds of thousands of people take the LRT and MRT trains daily precisely because they are cheap and efficient. People who have little time and less money take the train to work. The Aquino administration should look deeper into where the large government subsidy to the train system actually goes before adding another burden to the riding public,” Casiño said.

The finance department recently recommended that LRT fares be adjusted. Likewise, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) recommended an increase of at least P2 for LRT Line 2.

“The public must be apprised of the full details of how the government subsidy to the MRT and LRT is used the way President Aquino exposed the abusive perks given to executives of the MWSS [Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System],” said Casiño.

He said that as of August 2009, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) hold a combined 80 percent stake in Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) worth $750 billion.

The two banks, he said, have 10 seats in the 15-man board of directors of Metro Rail Transit. But on January 18, 2010, former President Gloria Arroyo issued Executive Order 855 mandating the National Development Co. (NDC) to acquire the MRTC from the two banks. The NDC will eventually privatize the MRTC shares.
“There is something really fishy here. Is the pot being sweetened for a juicy public-private partnership deal?” the legislator asked.

Casiño said that it would do well to look into excessive expenses like scandalous perks, expenses and bonuses, audit the loans incurred by the LRT and MRT and check for any mismanagement before even thinking of raising fares.

“President Aquino owes it to the people to explore every possible way to keep fares down. This is not just about being popular but about government’s duty to keep a very basic service—transportation—as cheap and accessible as possible,” he said.

On Friday, Aquino said he is still waiting for the final recommendation on the proposed MRT fare increase.

Aquino told Palace reporters that there was a proposal to level the fare of MRT to the fare of buses plying Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.

He also admitted that there was also a proposal to reduce the government’s subsidy in MRT.

“Ang laki masyado ng subsidy sa train, wala naman tayong pampuno doon [A large amount is spent in subsidizing the trains but we have no budget for that],” the President said.

At present, the government subsidizes both the MRT and the LRT.