Peping Cojuangco defers to Aquino, stops toll
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—President Benigno Aquino saved motorists from the burden of paying toll or service fee on a road owned by his relatives in Tarlac and which was linked to an interchange of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
The good news came after the President’s uncle, former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., informed Antonio Ligon, lawyer of Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), about the decision to stop collecting “pass through fees” on San Miguel Road inside the 6,000-hectare estate.
Pressed for details, Ligon read Cojuangco’s message, which said: “In deference to President Aquino, the implementation of service fee has been deferred.”
Cojuangco is an official of HLI, the owner and manager of the still contested sugar estate that spans Tarlac City and the towns of Concepcion and La Paz. The former Tarlac lawmaker is an elder brother of the President’s mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino.
Ligon reiterated that HLI was not involved in the toll collection. Copies of receipts issued when the fees were first imposed in May this year bore the names of Jose Cojuangco and Sons Inc. (JCSI) and Brown International Corporate Services Inc. (Bicsi).
Cojuangco did not answer calls made and text messages sent by the Inquirer seeking his views on the issue.
Officials of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said they were not officially furnished a copy of Cojuangco’s decision.
“I have yet to receive a note but we appreciate Cong. Peping’s (Cojuangco) position not to collect any fee,” said Arnel Paciano Casanova, BCDA president and chief executive officer.
The BCDA built the Luisita interchange close to the San Miguel Road because the late Pedro Cojuangco, the eldest in the clan and the former president of HLI, promised that the road could be used by the public toll-free.
The resumption of the collection of fees was announced through three billboards put up along San Miguel Road in Tarlac City on Nov. 2. Motorists were informed that fees, amounting to P20 for cars, P50 for buses and P100 for trucks, would be collected starting Nov. 7 for “road repairs and maintenance.”
“The TRB still considers the CDO (cease and desist order) issued previously to be valid and subsisting,” Julius Corpuz, TRB spokesperson, said by telephone on Friday.
The CDO was issued on June 2 or after two weeks since the fee was first imposed on May 17. Corpuz said the CDO has no termination date.
He said the CDO drew three replies from HLI, JCSI and Bicsi.
“They wrote us in TRB to tell us that they’re suspending the collection out of courtesy but this is not a waiver of their right to collect toll for the road,” Corpuz said. “They consider the CDO invalid.”
Corpuz said the TRB would monitor the situation in Hacienda Luisita. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon
