Gabriela lawmakers want House intervention on LRT, MRT fare hikes

Metro Rail and Light Rail Transit Systems. FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines—Women lawmakers from a militant group want the House of Representatives to intervene in the ongoing public dialogues of the proposed fare hike in the train systems that run in Metro Manila, a statement said.

Gabriela Representatives Emmi De  Jesus and Luz Ilagan filed House Resolution 137 calling the House Committee on Transportation to conduct an inquiry into the foreign loans that the Philippine government secured to finance the Light Railway Transit and Metro Rail Transit.

“We filed this resolution to protect the riding public from shouldering the real cost factors passed on by the Aquino administration, which are accumulating loan burdens, and the overpriced rate for the Build, Lease, and Transfer agreement for the LRT line extensions and operations,” said De Jesus after the Department of Transport and Communications pushed for raising the train fare to P10.

The DOTC claimed that they needed to reduce taxpayer subsidy losses and assure investors a return of their investment by increasing the train fares.

Gabriela, however, cited a study of an Inter-Agency Committee composed of Malacañang, the  departments of Finance and Budget, and the National Economic Development Agency that the 25-year contract with private firms prevented the government from negotiating the “onerous” 15% rate of return.

Ilagan said that both the DOTC and the Light Railway Train Administration know that government subsidies are not financing train operations but being used for debt payment.

“Clearly we need to expose the loan provisions to the public even before the government proposes to hike fares,” Ilagan said.

Since 1988, the government has been saddled with loans from the Export-Import Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Bank and other Japanese, Czech  and local financial backers like the Bank of the Philippine Islands to fund the MRT.

The latest loan costs P18.56 billion to fund extensions to the north and south of Metro Manila.

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