Bayan asks SC to halt LRT, MRT fare hike

Militant and commuter groups are also planning to go to the Supreme Court to stop the government from imposing a hike in the fare rates of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 and Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT3).

Bayan, along with commuters groups Riles Laan sa Sambayanan (Riles) Network and the Train Riders Network (Tren), will file a petition in the high tribunal on Jan. 5, a day after the rates are supposed to take effect.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers will assist the groups as counsel, said Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr.

“We will question the basis for the increase, the authority of the agencies which approved the hike and the process by which the increase was approved,” Reyes said in a statement Friday.

The groups are hoping that the high tribunal will issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to suspend the implementation of the fare hike.

The Department of Transportation and Communications announced last week that the three light trains would increase their fares by 50 to 87 percent next year.

The trains will begin charging a base fare of P11, with an additional P1 for every kilometer.

The fare increase was announced even as the trains suffered from constant breakdowns and amid complaints of overcrowding and long lines at stations.

Bayan called on other commuters to support their petition even as it criticized the Aquino administration for announcing a fare hike during the holidays and enforcing it just before the much-anticipated visit of Pope Francis.

Earlier, Bayan Muna party-list Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate said they would also ask the high court to issue a TRO against the fare hike when government offices reopen next year.