Gatchalian to NLEX: Don’t play victim

MANILA, Philippines — Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian yesterday scored anew the management of NLEX Corp. for allegedly playing the victim after the company said it only wanted to engage the mayor in a healthy “dialogue” about the traffic caused by the cashless toll collection system.

On Twitter, Gatchalian said it is the public that was victimized by the traffic caused by what he called an inefficient radio frequency identification (RFID) system at the six toll plazas in Valenzuela.

“Do not pretend that you are the victim or the public interest defender here! Precisely we got to this point because you victimized and took for granted your customers!” Gatchalian tweeted, calling the inefficient cashless payment system “highway robbery.”

Gatchalian suspended the company’s business permit on Monday after it failed to submit an appropriate action plan to submit a detailed report on how to fix the glitches in the cashless system.

A toll holiday in Valenzuela followed the suspension of the business permit, meaning vehicles may pass through the toll gates without paying fees.

In a statement, NLEX Corp. president Luigi Bautista said that they are pursuing “a series of consultations and dialogues with the Valenzuela mayor in good faith.”

Reacting to the statement, Gatchalian said “when you dialogue in good faith, you give concrete solutions, with definite timelines and measurable success indexes.”

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. spokesperson Romulo Quimbo told One News/TV5’s “The Chiefs” that the company needed more time to address the mayor’s concerns.

Gatchalian earlier thumbed down their request for a 15-day period to prepare an action plan.

Quimbo said there are other factors that contributed to glitches in the scanning of RFID stickers, like wear and tear or improper installation of stickers, even human errors like the failure of drivers to load up the RFID tags before going to the toll gate.

He claimed the scanners are 98 percent effective, and only around two percent constitutes the glitches like what happened in Valenzuela.