State-owned firm Public Estates Authority Tollways Corporation (PEATC) has insisted its right to be in control of the management and collections of fees of the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) amid the row with another company that has already reached the Court of Appeals.
In seeking the management control of the Cavitex, PEATC spokesperson lawyer Ariel Inton cited a 2018 Commission on Audit report, particularly on the aspect of record of revenues and expenses.
The COA report, according to Inton, stated that the PEATC only gets daily remittances on the toll collection and has no record of the disbursement after the revenue sharing partnership with the Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation (CIC).
“And what is the COA’s view? Simple. PEATC should operate MCTEP (Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project). It is our view that the PEATC has no other resource but to be able to operate according to its mandate and maintain its own accounting records of the total income and expenses of the MCTEP and reports its financial performance,” said Inton.
“It clear that PEATC has the mandate in the management of the toll ways and collection of toll fees,” he added.
The PEATC operates and maintains the Cavitex under the supervision of its mother agency, the Philippine Reclamation Authority. The CIC, on the other hand, is the concessionaire of the tollway.
The PEATC has already filed a case before the Court of Appeals, the move is aimed at asking the court to take over the management and the tollway collection for the Cavitex.
In an earlier statement, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation and its subsidiary, the CIC, questioned the authority of the PEATC to file the case, saying the PEATC is not a party to the joint venture agreement with the government since those involved in the pact are the CIC, the PRA and the Toll Regulatory Board.
Inton also disclosed that the PEATC does not agree with the proposal to buy PEATC out for P2.5 billion.
He said that from 1998 to 2023, the government earned P2.582 billion, based on its 10 percent share, while CIC earned P28.504 billion from its 90 percent share during the same period.
Inton said that CIC will not be left out as it will get a 60-40 sharing once the PEATC takes full control of the management and collection of fees from the tollways which he said collects around P3 billion a year.