MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Monday appealed to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to further extend the deadline for radio-frequency identification (RFID) installation on vehicles using tollways until March 2021.
According to Velasco, it would be impossible to RFID tag all 6.1 million registered vehicles in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and Region IV-A (CALABARZON) by next month.
“At the rate things are going, I don’t think all 6.1 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and CALABARZON will be provided with RFID stickers by Jan. 11, 2021,” he said in a statement.
Velasco also said DOTr should consider that the pandemic has constrained many vehicle owners from leaving their homes and obtaining RFID stickers for their cars.
DOTr earlier said drivers of vehicles without RFID stickers that would use toll roads would not get a citation during the Christmas season or until January 11.
READ: No apprehension for vehicles without RFID stickers until January 11 – DOTr
“It would be more practicable if the deadline is further extended to March 31, 2021, to give all our motorists enough time to secure the stickers for the cashless payment system given that we are still in a pandemic where the movement of people is limited,” said Velasco.
Velasco shared the observations of the House Committee on Transportation, which conducted a motu-proprio hearing on November 25 in anticipation of the problems that could arise from the cashless payment scheme at tollways.
Based on its calculation, the committee said it would take more than two years for all vehicles using tollways to be provided with RFID stickers.
To recall, DOTr has ordered the full implementation of cashless toll collections at expressways and major toll roads in a bid to reduce physical contact in these areas as a measure against the spread of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, as well as to avoid traffic congestion in toll plazas.