Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said Wednesday Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Corporation would not implement a toll holiday in the whole stretch of NLEX as suggested by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.
According to Romulo Quimbo, chief communications officer of the MPTC that manages NLEx, a toll holiday is a regulatory issue that involves the national government.
“The matter of having a toll holiday for the entire expressway obviously is a regulatory matter, and we would like to state that the national government is the one that [makes the order],” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
“We are just following the requirements of the national government and whatever the order of the national government, if this will be issued, we will, of course comply. For now, we have no such plan,” he added.
Quimbo noted that other government agencies, especially the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), have to address it.
On Monday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called for a toll holiday in gates of NLEX while RFID issued are still unresolved.
No toll holiday in all NLEX gates – MPTC
“If your system is not working, why charge the consumers? Let’s implement the toll holiday in the entire stretch of NLEX because it’s not only Valenzuela experiencing [issues],” said Gatchalian, vice-chair of the Senate committee on public services, an interview on ANC.
“The operators are mandated to put perfect or near-perfect RFID readers, but if it’s not functioning, then why allow the motorists to feel the inconvenience of that imperfection?” he added.
The 101-kilometer NLEX traverse Metro Manila, Central, and Northern Luzon.
The senator said the Department of Transportation ordered the implementation of a cashless payment system to prevent COVID-19 transmission, but it was “not well-planned.”
Quimbo, however, noted that the NLEX Corp. has already addressed many of the problems along the expressway.
“For now, we have already addressed many of the problems, especially in the toll gates especially during this Christmas season, and we have recent data that the traffic has improved vastly, especially along those areas where we used to have those combined activities,” he said.