Carandang is wrong
| C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S |
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| Jonathan De la Cruz |
Here’s what PCOSPD Secretary Ricky Carandang said about the recent increase in toll rates at a press briefing in Malacañang last Wednesday: “The toll increases will stay. No, you (reporters) are not going to see any bold announcements today as to reduction. You just have to bear with it, we will see the benefits in due time...We don’t have the power to stop the increases. It’s been done by the Supreme Court (SC) already...We are abiding by our contractual obligations...”
Well, we can understand the need to increase the toll rates considering the improvements which have been made in both the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and South Luzon Expressway (Slex). But we cannot agree with Carandang that the toll increases, especially at the Slex will have to stay and that the government does not have the power to stop the same. He is also wrong when he said that the SC has already decreed the increases. No, Sir. Of course, the increases can stand correction and government has the power to stop these if it finds that the same were based, among others, on false representations and are violative of the permissible rates of return as provided for in the toll operating agreement. That is what the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) are there for. Precisely, these agencies are supposed to properly and responsibly scrutinize the terms and conditions provided under the toll operating agreements (TOAs) and subject the petitions for increases to public hearings and consultations to ensure that the same are in accordance with law and sound public policy. That means, Carandang, that these increases are not automatic or even cast in stone even if the TOAs, as argued by the Slex toll operator, provided for increases every two years..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110110com4.html
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