The hiked fare of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) will not exceed P30, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jose de Jesus said.

De Jesus said in a radio interview that while they are still "reconciling" figures on the fare hike, the expected hike is "between" P20 to P30.

"Ang nababanggit diyan is between the range of P20 to 30. Hindi siguro lalabas sa range na yan (The figures I am getting indicate the fare hike will be between P20 and 30. It will not go beyond that)," he said in an interview on dzRH radio.

The current maximum fare for the LRT Line 1, which spans Monumento (Caloocan City) to Baclaran (southern Metro Manila) is P15.

Government had hinted at fare hikes for the LRT and Metro Rail Transit (MRT), saying much of the resources to subsidize the fares may have to go to anti-poverty programs.

Meanwhile, De Jesus said the government will need to take several steps for the full integration of the LRT and MRT.

"There are still several steps to undertake before we can get to that. There is a plan to acquire full ownership of the MRT, then we can (integrate) that with the LRT-1 so that we will have a complete seamless route," he said. — LBG, GMANews.TV