Solons welcome House probe on LRT, MRT fare hike
MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers welcomed the proposed House committee investigation on the fare hike in the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT).
Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Colmenares and Isagani Zarate filed House Resolution 111 which seeks to probe the proposed fare hikes.
Colmenares said the argument that people in Visayas and Mindanao are subsidizing public funds through the LRT and MRT is a short sighted tactic of Palace policymakers.
He added that Visayas and Mindanao residents are open to using the Malampaya funds for the president's emergency powers and the Interruptible Load Program even if it will be only used in Luzon.
“I just hope that Chairman Cesar Sarmiento, being an official of the Liberal Party would not affect his analysis and judgment of the MRT/LRT fare hike issue. I also hope that the hearing would not just be used by administration allies as a venue to justify the fare hike,” Colmenares said in a statement.
Colmenares earlier criticized the Department of Transportation and Communication for its "deviousness" in imposing fare hikes.
READ: Lawmaker slams DOTC for LRT, MRT fare hike
On the other hand, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III denounced the fare increase.
"This is ironic and totally out of whack, the DOTC cannot even make the MRT and LRT run efficiently and safely. Much more it is mired graft and corruption issues and charges worth billions of pesos hounding the DOTC over the MRT,” Albano said in a television interview.
Albano, a member of the the Minority Bloc of the House Committee on Transportation, said that thne government does not have justifiable reasons to increase the fare in the train systems.
"Yet from out of nowhere, like despots and modern-day bureaucratic bullies to President Aquino's avowed ‘bosses,’ they slap totally unconscionable, arbitrary, unjustifiable rate increases to all hapless and helpless MRT-LRT commuters," Albano added.
The proposed fare increase for the LRT and MRT is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 4, 2015.
A commuters' group called for the resignation of DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya for his pronouncements on the LRT and MRT fare hike.
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