SC asked to stop LRT, MRT fare hike

(Updated 5:30 p.m.) Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), a former lawmaker and 17 other individuals on Monday petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down as unconstitutional the order of Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya authorizing a fare increase for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

 

In two separate petitions, Bayan, as well as former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco and 17 other petitioners asked the high tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order stopping the Department of Transportation and Communications and other respondents from implementing the LRT-MRT fare increase.

 

Apart from Abaya, named respondents in the petitions were MRT-3 officer in charge Renato San Jose, LRT administrator Honorito Chaneco, MRT Corp., and Light Rail Manila Consortium.

 

The petitioners claimed Department Order No. 2014-14 or the "Implementation of the Uniform Distance-based Fare Scheme for three train lines" is unconstitutional, and for the SC to declare it as such.

 

Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes said Abaya has neither the authority to order a fare increase or exercise quasi-judicial functions similar to those vested in the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board which approves fare increases and rollbacks.

 

An LRTA board resolution and the "recommendations" by the MRT3 Office were mainly used to base the fare increase, but were neither published nor presented in any public "consultations," Reyes noted. The DOTC failed and refused to provide his group, and the public, access to these pertinent documents relative to the fare increase, he added.

 

"There was grave abuse of discretion and utter lack of transparency on the part of the DOTC... Let's stop Aquino's fare hike dead in its tracks," he told reporters.

 

On the other hand, Syjuco accused Abaya and the other respondents of grave abuse of discretion when the fare increase was approved through DO No. 2014-14. He said the order was not merely unconstitutional, but it violated the rule of due process.

 

No public consultation was made, Syjuco claimed, noting that in a December 12 consultation the DOTC merely presented a 64-slide Power Point presentation on the new fare matrix.

 

"It is irregular for DOTC to grant these private concessionaires these fare hikes, even without their actually applying for a fare hike, and even without a hearing where they should have presented the bases on why they deserve a fare hike, and the extent of the fare hike increases," Syjuco said.

 

The former lawmaker insisted the DOTC failed to present any legal or factual bases for its computations.

 

If government needed to raise capital for the operations of the three mass rail lines, "gauging your poor customers with higher prices or fares" is not the answer, he said.

 

"That is wrong, unsound and unfair to you customers. When additional capitalization is needed, you sell additional new stocks or bonds," said Syjuco, adding that capital can be raised by selling equity in the business.

 

The DOTC seemed to be "confused" when it allowed the realignment of its P2 billion supplemental budget for 2014 to other "unnamed" projects instead of bringing down the deficits to prevent a fare hike, he added.

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