SC in no hurry to issue TRO on train fare hike

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has deferred its ruling on the petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of the fare increase in the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) lines.

The SC instead asked the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to first give their side on the petitions filed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), former Iloilo congressman Augusto Syjuco, Bayan Muna party-list group and United Filipino Consumers and Commuters Inc.

In its session yesterday, the justices of the high court consolidated the four petitions.

“The court required the respondents to submit their comment to the petitions and the application for a temporary restraining order within a period of 10 days from their receipt of notice,” SC spokesman Theodore Te said in a press conference.

Subject of the order are DOTC Secretary Jose Emilio Abaya, MRT 3 Office officer-in-charge Renato San Jose, LRT Authority administrator Honorito Chaneco, MRT Corp. and Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific.

The petitioners asked the SC to void the order of the DOTC last month that paved the way for the increase.

They accused the DOTC of committing grave abuse of discretion in approving the increase and violating the constitutional right to due process of mass transit commuters, saying no consultation was held prior to the implementation of the fare adjustment.

The DOTC implemented an increase in the base fare of P11 for both the LRT and MRT starting Jan. 4, with an additional P1 for every kilometer.

Based on the new matrices, end-to-end trips on LRT-1 (Baclaran to Roosevelt) and LRT-2 (Recto to Santolan) increased from P20 to P30 and P15 to P25, respectively.

End-to-end trips on MRT-3 (North Avenue to Taft Avenue) increased from P15 to P28.

Disappointed

A network of train commuters expressed disappointment over the SC ruling, noting the fare hike was illegal because it did not go through public consultation.

“While we respect the decision of the Supreme Court, we stand by our position that the fare increase is a criminal act,” Train Riders Network spokesperson James Relativo said.

He said they would discuss their next move with regard the fare hike even as he called on the public to participate in future protest actions.

Bayan and other militant groups also expressed dismay over the SC ruling.

“Commuters’ woes will continue. The illegal increase remains in effect,” said Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes.

“Our petition is quite simple. The DOTC secretary does not have the authority to order a fare hike. The increase was illegal. They were the proponents, approving body and implementor all at the same time. The fare hike is also arbitrary and unnecessary. Congress has already passed appropriations for train improvements. The fare hike will merely go to the pockets of the big business stakeholders in the train system,” Reyes said.

The groups said the fight against higher LRT, MRT fare hikes will continue. “We are not giving up. We will derail the fare hike,” they said.

Reyes said there is no system for refunds even when it is proven that the fare hike is arbitrary.

“The non-issuance of a TRO would greatly impact commuters for months to come,” he said.

‘Ticket protest’

The #StrikeTheHike Network called on consumers to participate in “ticket protests” by writing their grievances on train tickets.

The group said the ticket protest aims to send their messages to the LRTA and President Aquino.

“This new form of protest is a result of the massive disapproval of the Filipino people against this anti-people policy being implemented for the benefit of private companies,” #StrikeThe Hike Network spokesperson Raymond Palatino said.

“Not even a single centavo of increase for the MRT and LRT is justifiable as its service to the riding public remains poor,” he added. – With Janvic Mateo, Rhodina Villanueva