Motorists hit P20 toll for use of Luisita road
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Motorists using the Hacienda Luisita interchange of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) bewailed on Tuesday the collection of a P20 fee when they take the Barangay San Miguel access road in the sugar estate in Tarlac.
Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), which is owned by relatives of President Benigno Aquino III, issues receipts through a makeshift toll station near the Luisita Industrial Park, a motorist told the Inquirer.
“We’re made to pay whether we get in or out of the San Miguel access road to and from the SCTEx in Luisita,” another motorist said in a text message.
Lawyer Arnel Casanova, president of the state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), owner of the SCTEx project, said the road is supposed to be open to everyone since the HLI committed to build an access road toward the interchange.
For public use
The road begins from the MacArthur Highway in Tarlac City. Its total length is 7.6 km, BCDA data showed. Toll from SCTEx in Mabalacat, Pampanga, to the Luisita exit is P80.
“The public should have free access. It’s for public use. It’s supposed to be an open road,” Casanova said by telephone on Tuesday. “The idea is to enhance economic activities in the area.”
Casanova could not say if the HLI has obtained an authority to collect toll from the Toll Regulatory Board.
He said the BCDA has written the HLI to clarify the issue.
The BCDA, he said, did not authorize the HLI to collect fees for the use of the access road.
Casanova said the BCDA has dealt with HLI on a “professional basis.” He said he is aware that Mr. Aquino is a minority owner of HLI.
The estate is owned by the family of Jose Cojuangco Sr. whose daughter, former President Corazon Aquino, is President Aquino’s mother.
Private road
Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., an uncle of the President, confirmed that HLI began collecting toll on the San Miguel access road.
“They can use other exits, like in La Paz and Concepcion [towns in Tarlac,” Cojuangco said by telephone.
The P20 fee, he said, is for the road’s maintenance. “It’s a private road. It’s not covered by the right-of-way (ROW),” he said.
The cost of ROW in the SCTEx project was the subject of a Senate investigation before the May 2010 elections. No overpricing was found.
Cojuangco said the road needs to be maintained because some 4,000 vehicles pass through it every day. Some sections of the road need of repairs so accidents could be avoided, he said.
