‘Toll hike will increase investors’confidence’

The implementation of the increase in the Skyway toll rates would build up investors’ confidence in the country, an official of the Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (CMMTC) said Tuesday.

"The financiers of the second stage of the Skyway are looking at the toll rate increase as an indication if they would push through with the project," said Ramon Borromeo, CMMTC spokesperson.

He added that major political changes in the country have delayed the implementation of the second stage of the elevated Skyway, which would run from Bicutan to Alabang.

Borromeo said he hoped that the project "would get moving by the end of this year or start of next year."

He also said investors lose confidence whenever contracts, such as that with Citra and the government, are not upheld.

The Skyway project is a joint venture between Citra and the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC), a government-owned and controlled corporation. The partnership gave birth to the CMMTC. The first stage of the Skyway was built in 1995.

Borromeo maintained that the two-stage provisional increase, which was approved by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), was part of the contract between Citra and government.

The increase, he explained, was needed to allow CMMTC to pay its huge foreign debts. A consumer activist group has been protesting the increase which took effect last Monday.

For his part, Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon said the risk of turning off investors is also the reason why he and his colleagues are "careful in raising the issue."

"We are also tying (the increase) up with the Alabang viaduct issue. PNCC has told us that they have no money for the rehabilitation of the bridge and they would need foreign investors for the project.

"Our end objective is to stop the increase but as public officials, we want due process to be followed. It’s political pressure that turns off investors," Biazon said. "But we can’t stop the public from doing what it wants."