TRB defers planned toll hikes in 2 expressways

ANGELES CITY — The Toll Regulatory Board (TRBe) has ordered the "temporary postponement" of plans to raise toll rates by 19 centavos per kilometer at the North Luzon Expressway (NLE) and 39 centavos at the South Luzon Expressway (SLE), the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) disclosed yesterday.

But with the completion of the P18.5-billion NLE upgrading project by yearend and its takeover by project developer Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), the toll rate at least along the 84-kilometer NLE is expected to increase by P2.40 to P2.49 per kilometer, Marlyn Ochoa, MNTC vice president for public information and external relations, told The STAR.

Ochoa was initially hesitant to give estimates on the toll hike once the MNTC takes over the NLE because she fears adverse reaction from the public.

She said the MNTC would release an official estimate of the toll hike in July after MNTC president Jose de Jesus has returned from his vacation.

Ochoa, however, said the increase in the NLE toll rate "would be worth the cost," citing the upgraded facilities along the expressway, including the installation of at least 40 cameras to monitor traffic and accidents.

Charito Chavez, PNCC information officer, said the TRB order deferring the toll hikes at both the NLE and SLE is expected to be only temporary amid protests from some sectors.

"But the fact is that the PNCC rates have remained stagnant for years... We have been losing heavily and (we are) maintaining the expressways despite a deficit," she said.

Chavez said the proposed increases of 19 centavos per kilometer at the NLE and 39 centavos at the SLE were based on such factors as "value of equipment, working capital and actual revenues compared to computed revenues."

She said the additional revenues from the toll hikes would substantially help in the upkeep and upgrading of the two expressways.

Chavez, for instance, cited the P1.6-billion plan to extend the 30-kilometer SLE by another 7.8 kilometers from Calamba, Laguna to Sto. Tomas, Batangas where it would link up with the Star tollway.

Should the MNTC take over the NLE before the 19-centavo toll hike there is carried out, Chavez said the PNCC would still proceed with the 39-centavo increase at the SLE.

"The PNCC has no plans to abandon the SLE in the way that it is turning over the NLE to the MNTC," she said.

Ochoa said the MNTC’s computation of the toll hike would be based largely on the foreign exchange rate and inflation.

About 80 percent of the NLE upgrading project is complete, and by yearend, the MNTC will take over the NLE.

She, however, said the MNTC will subcontract the NLE’s maintenance and operations to the Tollway Management Corp. (TMC).

Earlier, the MNTC computed a P14 flat rate from Balintawak to Bocaue, Bulacan and from there, an additional 82 centavos per kilometer.

But these figures were based on the initial project cost estimate of only $286 million, the 1998 exchange rate of only P40 to the US dollar and a six-percent inflation rate.