Palace wants fair public benefitsin raising MRT, LRT fares

The government is balancing everyone's interest in considering a raise in the fares of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) before the end of the year, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.

The Palace will wait for the decision of transportation officials on when to adjust the MRT and LRT fares, Lacierda said. 

It has been reported that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) plans to raise train fares before Christmas. 

The plan, proposed four years ago, is being opposed by some groups, who say that the current fare must be retained, given the substandard services of the railway transport systems.

Secretary Lacierda said that the DOTC has long considered adjusting the rates of the MRT and LRT, noting that President Aquino even mentioned it in his previous public pronouncements.

"Remember the statement of the President dati, na the taxes are being used to subsidize only a portion, taxes collected all over the country, we used a part of that to subsidize the MRT ridership," he said.

"So, you’ve got taxes collected from Cebu, Visayas, Mindanao or from the balance of Luzon who don’t enjoy that," he explained.

Lacierda said the government recognizes the need to realign everything so that the taxes collected should equally go back to the people through subsidies that support poverty alleviation, intervention or other social programs.

"We are balancing the interest. We are balancing the use of the money collected from our countrymen and we believe that the taxes collected should be applied equitably to all our countrymen," he said. 

Once the fare rate is adjusted, a one-way ride on LRT-1 from Baclaran to Roosevelt will cost P29, while a one-way trip on LRT-2 from Santolan to Recto will be P24, a media report said.

A trip on MRT-3 between North Avenue and Taft Avenue will cost P28.

Currently, a ride on the MRT ranges from P10 to P15, while a ride on LRT-1 and LRT-2 costs from P12 to P15 and P20, respectively.

With the fare adjustment, the government aims to reduce its subsidy for the mass transport systems to P10 billion from P12 billion. (PCOO News Release)