The Senate will now come in since the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has been silent on the snowballing problem created by the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) snafu at Luzon tollways.
“This coming week ito ay nakakadismaya ang TRB dahil dapat di na umabot sa ganitong punto, wala tayo nakikitang aksyon wala tayo choice kundi magfile ng resolution,’’ Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, said in a DWIZ radio interview today.
(I will file this week a resolution. This is a sad period because the TRB is silent and the traffic problem should not have grown bigger)
Gatchalian said the fault lies in the defective RFID equipment that reads data on the RFID data in stickers printed on vehicles passing through toll plazas.
He said he himself has been experiencing this problem in his native Valenzuela City months ago, not just last month or this month.
Vehicles pile up mostly in the North Luzon Expressway and they are only able to pass through after 30 to 45 minutes in the traffic-clogged lanes, he added.
A motorist has to plunk down a minimum P500 worth of load in the RFID sticker.
“Ang kanilang RFID reader di gumagana. Palpak,” he added.
“Tinignan ko ‘yung concession agreement walang prangkisa ito, noong 1989 nagkaroon ng agreement ang government at operator at sabi kayo pribado kayo na magpatakbo dito, monopoly ito, sa concession agreement may performance, galingan mo naman ang serbisyo, kaya tingin ko ito ay isang dahilan para ireview ang concession agreement, sa amin di na kami natutuwa at kung dapat palitan ay dapat palitan na ng mas magaling,’’ he pointed out.
(I will look into their concession agreement, not a franchise, entered into in 1989 between the government and the operator. This is a private firm, a monopoly. We will look into its performance. The problem is a not a laughing matter. If it is necessary to change the concessionaire, we will)
‘’Dapat trabaho na nga ‘yan ng TRB kaya nagtataka kami nasaan ang TRB bakit tahimik sila. Pero nakikita natin ang TRB walang ginagawa at natutulog lang kaya wala tayo choice kundi umakto ako personally magpafile ako reso para maimbestigahan para gumalaw na ang TRB, tignan ang concession agreement,’’ he pointed out.
(This should be the work of the TRB. We are wondering where is TRB and why is TRB not doing anything. It is sleeping. We are forced to act by filing a resolution to investigate, in aid of legislation, why TRB is silent. We will look into the concession agreement)
“’Yan ang problema pag monopolyo talaga halos di na nila pinapakinggan customers at ang kanilang mentality…wala tayo choice,’’ he added.
(That is the problem with a monopoly. They do not listen to the complaints of their customers. That is their mentality.
The TRB was created by Presidential Decree (PD) No.1112 in March 1977. Its primary function is to supervise, monitor, and regulate the construction, operation, and maintenance of toll facilities as well as the rates that may be charged therefrom.
The Board provides the balance between the pursuance of the investor’s reasonable rate of return and safeguard the toll users’ interests. It serves to attract private investors to participate in financing costly infrastructure projects of the government.
In that same year, Presidential Decree No. 1113 was issued granting the Philippine National Construction Corp. (formerly Construction Development Corp. of the Philippines), the franchise to operate, construct, and maintain toll facilities in the North and South Luzon Tollways.