DOTr, MVP hammer out staggered toll hikes deal

The Department of Transportation is in talks with the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan over the staggered implementation of toll increases in the latter’s expressways.

The discussions are aimed at resolving long-running compensation claims amounting to billions of pesos sought by Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. dating back to 2011.

Ultimately, the DOTr wants to end the arbitration cases that MPTC had filed as Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade described these as costly to the government.

“We are discussing the gradual implementation [of fees] and also to end the arbitration case,” Tugade said during the second EJAP Economic Forum.

He said that meetings were held with MPTC and that a settlement was on the horizon.

Rodrigo Franco, CEO of MPTC, said the company supported discussions to resolve the multiyear legal row.

“A proposal was submitted to the government to settle all toll rate related issues,” Franco said. “As long as we see a way to settle this, we are committed to terminating the arbitration case.”

MPTC sough the arbitration court’s help amid the “inaction” of the Toll Regulatory Board in approving the rate adjustments. Before the cases were filed in April 2016, MPTC said it held a series of discussions with the TRB. These, however, did not result in a feasible settlement offer.

In a stock exchange filing, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which owns MPTC, said compensation claims for NLEx amounted to P7 billion as of June 30, 2018. The estimated amount of compensation for NLEx covered the 2012, 2014 and 2016 toll rate petitions, it noted.

For Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway, the amount stood at P1.2 billion. The figures were net of value added tax and the government’s share.

For Cavitex, the total compensation claim stood at P1.6 billion as of end-June 2018.

“We have conceded that a one-time increase is not going to be acceptable to the public,” Franco said.

Metro Pacific said that tariff hikes were needed as ongoing improvement and expansion projects across its toll roads were ongoing.

MPTC said in June that it was poised to spend about P123 billion on new toll road projects over the next five years. These included the Cavite Laguna Expressway, NLEx and South Luzon Expressway connector road and the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway.

The group also recently won an original proponent status to build the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway.