Marcos urged: Don’t penalize motorists over RFID

MANILA, Philippines — Organized labor yesterday called for the scrapping of the new policy penalizing motorists without radio frequency identification or those with insufficient load in their RFIDs.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) asked President Marcos to order the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to scrap its joint memorandum order on such policy with the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Office that shall take effect on Aug. 31.

FFW president Sonny Matula said the law is discriminatory and could lead to legal consequences.

Matula explained that the memorandum amends existing laws on legal tender and disregards the integrity and reliability of the money system.

He stressed that the memorandum effectively downgrades the importance of the legal tender law by making it punishable to pay cash at tollways.

“What is this phenomenon and why is it now punishable to pay cash in the toll way if we have insufficient load or no RFID?” Matula asked.

“Penalizing the use of Philippine pesos for payment of toll fees at the entrance or exit of tollways in case of insufficient load or lack of RFID may result in legal consequences, as it is a violation of the laws governing legal tender,” he added.

The FFW urged Marcos to order the concerned government agencies to review or just junk the memorandum.

It further noted that the imposition of heavy fines for forgetting to load RFID accounts is “unreasonable and unfairly burdensome.”

“Motorists who use their vehicles sparingly to save money should not be punished for occasionally forgetting to load their RFID. These fines are excessive and add to the financial struggles of ordinary Filipinos, particularly those from the provinces who rarely travel to urban areas,” FFW vice president Jun Ramirez said.

Ramirez added that turning cash payments into a punishable offense at tollways could be perceived as a form of highway robbery.

The FFW asked the TRB not to eliminate the cash payment option to accommodate motorists who do not use tollways regularly or those who forget to top up their RFID.