Senator Gatchalian demands chief of toll board

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian demanded the resignation of the head of the Tolls Regulatory Board (TRB) on Monday due to the monstrous traffic congestion on the highways caused by the flawed implementation of an electronic toll collection system.

“If you ask me, the TRB is really not working. Whoever the head of that agency is must resign and their position must be handed over to someone who knows the job, ”Gatchalian, who is seeking an investigation in the Senate into the chaos caused by the introduction of radio frequency identification (RFID) to eliminate the cash payments at toll plazas, he said in a radio interview.

The TRB is the agency that regulates the country’s toll roads. It is supervised by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and is led by an executive director, currently Abraham P. Sales.

Sales had not commented on Gatchalian’s call to his head as of press time Monday.

Traffic jam on the toll roads

Preparation for the shift to cashless toll payment was marred by the painfully slow distribution of RFID stickers at toll plazas in recent days, leading to kilometer-long setbacks that disrupted economic activity in municipalities throughout along the highways, particularly in Gatchalian’s political base, the city of Valenzuela. where the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) interchange is located.

The full shift began on December 1, but malfunctioning sensors at the toll plazas caused a traffic jam on the toll roads, and the daily chaos at the Valenzuela interchange prompted lawsuits from Gatchalian’s brothers, Mayor Rex. Gatchalian and representative Wes Gatchalian, for a stop at modernization until technical problems are fixed.

The slowness of the toll operator forced Mayor Gatchalian to suspend the company’s business permit on Monday. Without the toll collection, the vehicles passed through the toll plaza, alleviating congestion at the crossing.

“This problem did not happen overnight,” Senator Gatchalian said. “He got to this point because he had been careless. For me, TRB has a great responsibility for this mess. “

Gatchalian previously warned toll operators that they would lose their government contracts unless they remedied the problem with modernizing toll collection.

He called for a review of the agreements with the government of the operators of NLEx and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) for violations related to the switch to electronic toll collection.

“The TRB can cancel the contract if the public interest is compromised. Operating highways is a privilege granted to operators. They are granted [privilege] to serve the public, ”Gatchalian said.

“If the operators cannot provide good service and the public suffers, the people have the power to withdraw the contracts,” he added.

‘Toll vacation’

In the meantime, he said, echoing Mayor Gatchalian’s suggestion, operators should consider a “toll holiday” while they troubleshoot problems with the new toll collection system.

“We are aware that their system is rotten and not working, so let’s let people pass without paying a toll,” Gatchalian said.

In another radio interview, TRB spokesman Julius Corpuz said the board was dealing with the problems caused by the modernization of toll collection.

“We understand the complaints from Senator Gatchalian, Mayor Gatchalian and Representative Gatchalian, but they are unaware that we are trying to solve motorist problems as a result of the implementation of RFID,” said Corpuz.

Corpuz urged careful consideration of Senator Gatchalian’s warning about the revocation of toll operators’ contracts. “Let’s see if you need to go that far or just solve these problems quickly to improve traffic on the freeways,” he said.

When asked to comment on Mayor Gatchalian’s call for a toll holiday, Corpuz said it was an option. However, he said there were other ways to ease congestion on the toll roads.

“Our observation last week is that there is an improvement. But we will not stop because we know there are many complaints, “he said.

Suspended operator permit

The NLEx operator had asked for more time to fix the problems with its RFID system, but Mayor Gatchalian rejected his appeal on Monday.

“I have been drawing the attention of your superiors regarding the technical failures and inefficiency of your then Easytrip (and later RFID) for the last seven years. Therefore, he had more than enough and reasonable time to make his system stable and reliable, ”he said in a letter to NLEx Corp. CEO Luigi Bautista.

“The monstrous bottleneck caused by technical failures in its RFID system is already affecting the economic, mental and general well-being of our citizens. The suffering has to end. The public deserves better, ”Gatchalian said.

The mayor demanded that the company take full responsibility for its shortcomings and mistakes and apologize to the public.

He gave the operator until 5:01 pm Monday to comply with his demands or he would issue a cease-and-desist order to stop the company’s Valenzuela operation.

“This saga is no longer just about the city of Valenzuela, but also about the traveling public. The city government is acting on behalf of the general welfare and safety of the public in this concern, ”Gatchalian said.

NLEx Corp. has apologized to the public and the Valenzuela government and promised to comply with Gatchalian’s demand to quickly resolve the problems with its RFID system.

The company’s senior vice president, Romulo Quimbo Jr., told the Inquirer that his company’s action would include steps to reduce congestion, better traffic management and increase manpower to help solve technical problems.

“We are solving the problems one by one and we have to accelerate the resolution,” Quimbo said.

But since congestion did not abate, Gatchalian suspended NLEx Corp’s business permit. Motorists were allowed to pass through toll plazas within Valenzuela, but the operator was not allowed to collect the toll.

“The heavy traffic will be more or less relieved. It may not be the cure for everyone, but we are tackling one of the biggest traffic problems, ”Gatchalian told reporters after serving the suspension order at NLEx Corp.

Extend the term of RFID

Also Monday, spokesman Lord Allan Velasco appealed to DOTr to consider extending the deadline for vehicles to obtain RFID decals until the first quarter of next year.

“At the rate things are going, I do not believe that all 6.1 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon will receive RFID stickers by January 11, 2021,” Velasco said in a statement.

“It would be more feasible if the deadline were further extended until March 31, 2021, to give all of our drivers enough time to secure the decals, [as] we are still in a pandemic where the movement of people is limited, ”Velasco said.

–With reporting from Meg Adonis and Julie M. Aurelio

Read next