Salceda Hits SLEX Toll Hike

LEGAZPI CITY, June 17 -- Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman and Albay Governor Joey S. Salceda assailed the decision to raise the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) toll fees which, he said, is tantamount to curtailment of trade and freedom to travel.

"Being a regular user of the SLEX, the 250% toll hike cannot be justified by the physical improvements we feel or likely to see, a far cry, compared to the dramatic changes in NLEX (North Luzon Expressway)," Salceda said.

He explained that trade with Manila is the lifeblood of Bikol and the SLEX is the main artery. Easily, SLEX toll payments will disproportionately account for eight percent of total fuel expense currently at about P2,800 (Manila-Legazpi, using diesel).

"With air transportation limited and relatively expensive and the Legazpi-Manila Bicol Express (train) unlikely to come full steam by 2015 and the Muntinlupa-Calamba section of the South road under heavy Calabarzon traffic, Bikolanos have no choice but to use the SLEX for their transport requirements," Salceda said.

"We cannot accept the trade-off between the heavy traffic of the Muntinlupa-Calamba and high cost of SLEX. Why do Bikolanos have to singularly pay for the ineffectiveness of Public Works and Highways' public expenditures?" he asked.

According to the RDC chief, the SLEX toll fee amounts to an unavoidable imposition on Bikol region's traders, farmers and students who study in the National Capital Region; workers who work in Philippine Economic Zone Authority areas in Cavite, Laguna; and on ordinary families who visit their relatives in the NCR. "We cannot even protest by not using it," he lamented.

He stressed this state-sponsored road transport monopoly should be subject to a public hearing since public interest is at stake.

"Certainly, our Sangguniang Panlalawigan or the Regional Development Council (which I chair) were not notified or asked for comments by TRB (Toll Regulatory Board) on such toll fee adjustments," Salceda stated.

He added that as a financial analyst, he can easily reckon that it is a homerun for the tollway operator at the expense of users who have no choice but to use it. "Surely, investors must be reasonably rewarded for providing the service. But, in this special case of state-sponsored monopoly where the market mechanism does not operate, the regulatory process takes its place," he said.

"I am asking our Sangguniang Panlalawigan to denounce the TRB for its facile treatment of the SLEX petition for rate hike and to officially demand that the Board set aside its decision and re-start the process. Certainly, we deserve an explanation," the governor concluded.

On the other hand, Albay board member and chairman of the committee on Transportation and Public Works Celso Aytona is scheduled to file a resolution on Tuesday, June 22, during its regular session denouncing the SLEX toll hike.

The resolution also urges all other Sangguniang Panlalawigan in the Bikol region as well as those in the Visayan provinces to do the same. (PNA)

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