The exemption of trucks from toll fee increases and availing of rebates will prevent an impact on second-round effects on food inflation, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said.
“I thank our government agencies as well as our partner toll expressway concessionaires and operators for their full cooperation,” Recto said in a statement on Thursday, May 30.
“This measure will prevent the second round effects of toll rate increases onto food inflation and ensure that we keep food prices stable and affordable for our consumers,” he added.
Second-round or second-order effects are also called indirect effects and are manifested as wage hikes and transport fare increases.
This initiative, which will be implemented starting June 1, was led by the departments of finance, transportation, and agriculture; Toll Regulatory Board, with the support of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corporation Tollways.
To qualify for the Agri-Trucks Toll Rebate Program, truckers should be accredited by the agriculture department and have valid Autosweep and/or Easytrip RFID accounts.
Once enrolled and approved into the system, agri-truckers will enoy toll rebates that will be credited to their RFID accounts every Wednesday of the following week.
The rebate program is expected to run for three months and will be subject to evaluation for possible extension, and should benefit 200 to 300 agricultural trucks traveling from north and south Luzon.
It covers the Manila-Cavite Expressway, North Luzon Expressway, Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, and the South Luzon Expressway.
The enrollment for the rebate program is as follows:
1. Register the RFID account.
2. Submit and present the requirements such as:
• Original DA accreditation certificate
• Copy of the vehicle’s OR/CR (Official Receipt/Certificate of Registration)
• Valid ID
• Easytrip/Autosweep card
3. Fill up the agricultural trucks toll fee increase exemption form provided by the Customer Service Center personnel.