Aquino to fare hike foes: Do you have better ideas?
PROTEST. Militant groups conduct a protest rally against the commuter train fare hike outside the MRT3 North Avenue station in Quezon City on January 5, 2015. Photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III on Friday, January 9 slammed critics of the government decision to increase fares of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines, and challenged them to match their "noise" with a proposed solution.
Aquino made the statement in a media interview in Romblon, in response to criticisms over the fare hike, which is the subject of several petitions filed before the Supreme Court.
"Someone needs to pay. So it's just fair that if you benefit from them, then perhaps you should pay more," he said.
The President added that even with the fare hike, the train lines will continue to receive government subsidy.
He challenged those opposed to the fare hike to propose a "better solution."
"The noisiest critics, if they have a better solution, my ears are always open. If they can solve the problem and theirs is better, I'll listen," he said.
Otherwise, Aquino said, they would only be making noise without helping solve the problem.
"If it's all complaints and they don't propose a solution, then they are just trying to be cute and don't actually have a desire to solve the problem," he said.
The government decided to implement what it called a "long overdue" fare hike since the increase for LRT1 was in 2003, while fares have never been increased for LRT2. For MRT3, the fares were even lowered.
The government also vowed that commuters will get better service starting this year. Among the awaited improvements are 48 additional train cars starting September 2015, the upgrade of the railways and signaling system, and the repair of 25 light rail vehicles.
Such improvements are expected to cut the waiting time and long queues of passengers, and avert technical glitches that have caused operation shutdowns in the past.
Some lawmakers have slammed the fare hike including two senators who are administration allies – Grace Poe and Francis Escudero. The other two belong to the opposition – Senators JV Ejercito and Nancy Binay.
Other groups have also filed petitions with the Supreme Court to stop the fare hike. (READ: SC raflles petitions vs MRT, LRT fare hike)
'No perfect decision'
To critics, the President said: "There is no perfect decision here. Of course those who have to pay higher fares will complain."
Aquino insisted that by decreasing the state subsidy to train fares, the government can save P2 billion that can be used to develop projects in other provinces that don't benefit from the commuter trains.
He said a reduced government subsidy also means the reduced "contribution" of taxpayers outside Metro Manila for the train systems.
"Now it's a legitimate question of the 86 million (outside Metro Manila): 'Why are we paying P45 pesos....When we don't benefit from it?,'" he said.
Aquino said those living outside Metro Manila would also like to see their own public transport system and improvements in their airport and sea ports which may be funded by the reduced state subsidy for the MRT and LRT lines.
The President said the fare hike had been proposed as early as 2011 but was deferred until this year.
He also acknowledged that perhaps improvements to the rail systems should have been done earlier. – Rappler.com
