Sang-ayon ako sa suhestyong hayaan ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno, lalo na ang mga miyembro ng Gabinete, na gumamit ng pampublikong transportasyon sa pagpasok sa trabaho. Mainam na maranasan nila ang makipagsiksikan, makipagbalyahan at makipagtulakan para lang makasakay. At kung sakaling may pila sa terminal, sana nama’y maarawan o maulanan din sila sa paghihintay sa susunod na traysikel o dyip.
“Corporations, which are by nature expected to recover the cost of their expenses and liabilities can raise the minimum fare without a public hearing.”
Unknown to many, Filipinos taxpayers and their families are made to carry the burden of paying for various deal sweeteners included in the LRT1 concession agreement. This includes a P5-billion project startup subsidy, P105 billion in tax exemptions, revenue shortfall subsidies, and assured fare increases of up to 10.25% every two years and 5% upon completion of the LRT1 extension. These are on top of a sovereign guarantee amounting to P7,519,428,667 to be paid next year in penalties and fees. All these will be drawn out from the pockets of Ruby and us, the taxpayers and commuters – a clear mass robbery in broad daylight.
Can the government afford the nationalization of our trains? Yes!
“The MRT-LRT should be a public service. It should be for the people and not be used by big business to impose unjustified fees.”
“The penalty payments are the result of an onerous contract entered into by the Aquino government and the winning bidders. This is a form of sovereign guarantee that will be borne by taxpayers.”
“It has been six months since the Aquino government imposed the fare hikes, yet the public is seeing a deterioration, not improvement, in the train systems’ services.”
“It just goes to show that this administration is hell-bent on pursuing the interests of his bosses. And I’m not talking about the Filipino people, but the capitalists who run the MRTC and LRMC.” – Train Riders Network (TREN)
“There is more than ample budget for the MRT and LRT but Malacañang wants to increase fares so that they can have discretion over the savings and turn this into a Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)-like pork barrel to be spread to their favourite politicians.” – Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares
“Before proposing any increase, the high cost of operations and the large amount of debt incurred by the project should first be investigated, specifically on whether taxpayers are actually subsidizing debts incurred by the private consortium that built the MRT.” – Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate
“With more than a million passengers riding all three lines a day, the MRT and LRT generate more than enough income for their operations and maintenance. That’s the reason why big businesses are drooling over and trying to buy them.”