Rail fare hike inevitable with subsidy cut

By Kathrina Alvarez

METRO Manila commuters may eventually pay more for train fares after the Transport department’s proposed budget–which set aside lower passenger subsidies for next year–was approved on Wednesday.
The House of Representatives approved the Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) proposed budget of P34.57-billion next year, leaving only P4.29 billion for train fare subsidies. Some P7 billion is allotted to subsidize train passengers in Metro Manila.
Debates on the DOTC’s proposed budget have been terminated on Wednesday morning as the House leadership seeks to approve the budget bill this Friday.
According to the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, the P2.63 billion decrease in the amount allotted to subsidize MRT III operations owed to the reclassification of expenses for train maintenance.
“A spike in revenues has been projected from operations due the proposed rate adjustment which was the thrust when the DOTC budget was being drafted earlier in the year,” the report stated. Roxas, however, admitted that no timetable has been set when the fares will increase.
“Matagal na napag-uusapan…matagal nang nakabinbin yan. Si Pangulong Aquino mismo, kung hangga’t maari at may pera, huwag natin pabigatin yung pasanin ng mga kababayan…pero limitado nga ang pera,” Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said in an ambush interview.
Roxas clarified that the fare increase will be undertaken on a staggered basis to ease commuters’ burdens.
But Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño dismissed Roxas’ assertions.
“It is obvious that the DOTC is hellbent on passing the buck to commuters but at the same time it has allotted more than P8.5 billion for the private-public partnership scheme for the department. It is ensuring that corporations are subsidized by the government while abdicating its duty to subsidize the mass transit system,” he said.
Roxas and President Benigno Aquino III himself pushed for high fares on the MRT and LRT lines, pointing out that taxpayers from Visayas and Mindanao are also paying for the train commuters’ expenses.
The government pays a P7-billion subsidy yearly for train commuters. This allows the 500,000 passengers to pay only P12 to P15 since the government shoulders P40 of the actual cost of P55.
Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the explanation of Roxas and several legislators from Visayas and Mindanao should not be accepted by the commuting public since government revenues are considered “conjugal.” “Once it is in, it can be used for national efforts or for local concerns,” he said.
Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay added that if the explanation of the Aquino administration will be believed, taxpayers in Luzon and Metro Manila should also not shell out money for infrastructure development in Visayas and Mindanao.
Senator Ralph Recto had opposed the removal of MRT subsidy since taxpayers in Luzon also pay for the government’s conditional cash transfer programs nationwide.
Recto noted that combined tax collections “from Bicol province down to Tawi-Tawi” only total to P56.82 billion while Quezon City alone contributes P75.8 billion in taxes.
Deputy Minority Leader and Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez, for his part, backed the Aquino administration’s plan to raise train fares because service, he said, costs money.
Suarez, however, stressed that any rate adjustment in train fares should be justified by improvement of train stations and maintenance of coaches first.
“The government should first improve services in mass transit before they can ask for a reasonable adjustment,” he said. (Sunnex)

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/09/14/rail-fare-hike-inevitable-subsidy-cut-179359

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