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MANILA, Philippines – Senator Grace Poe said Thursday that the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) “cannot escape blame” for the fiasco involving the implementation of the cashless payment scheme on toll roads.
Poe, during a Senate public services committee hearing, criticized the TRB for apparently focusing its attention on just two of its functions and “nothing else.”
“The Toll Regulatory Board, as the main regulator of toll operators, cannot escape blame. It seems to me that the TRB has settled for doing two things and nothing more: increase toll rates and collect fees, ”said Poe, who leads the audience as chair of the committee.
“Truth be told, TRB can’t even do its job of collecting toll fees that well,” he added.
He cited audit reports from the Audit Commission, which according to the senator showed that the TRB did not collect “toll rates” for a value of almost 1,000 million pesetas in two years: 44.24 million pesetas in 2017 and 859, 94 million pesetas in 2019.
Furthermore, Poe said that the TRB also “suffers” from having a governing board that is “dominated” by ex officio cabinet secretaries “who have more important things to do.”
“The future of the TRB is another issue that must be resolved during this hearing,” said the senator.
“The backlash on this implementation of the electronic toll collection system reminded those in the public service of the importance of careful planning and thorough preparation. It also exposed the tendency of some government agencies to give in to what appears to be ‘trial and error’ when it comes to implementing new policies, “he added.
The regulatory board recently earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte, who warned his officials that they would be removed in the event of “another fiasco.”
The TRB had previously said that the board was dealing with problems caused by the switch to cashless toll collection.
The board added that it had directed toll road operators to replace worn and faulty sensors, tags, and radio frequency identification (RFID) equipment, and to relocate the RFID facility and recharge lanes to avoid the congestion on freeways.
On December 7, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian ordered the suspension of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Corp.’s business permit after traffic congestion in the city allegedly caused by the faulty implementation of the RFID payment system of the toll regulator. Gatchalian’s order prevented NLEX from collecting a toll on motorists.
Following a meeting between Gatchalian and NLEx Corp., the mayor ordered the “conditional lifting” of the order suspending the company’s business permit, which ended the “toll holiday” throughout the NLEx tolls within the city.
EDV
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