LRT, MRT fare hike: Will the poor pay more?
By ROEL LANDINGIN, Newsbreak
Averages can hide as well as reveal patterns in data. The recently approved increase for Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) fares, which average about 56 percent is a good example of this truism.
How much commuters will actually pay depends not just on where they are and where they want to go but on the type of ticket they can afford to buy. There are two choices -- single-journey, which is good for a one-way trip, or stored-value, which can be used several times until the pre-loaded value is used up.
Let’s say you’re a daily wage laborer taking the Light Rail Transit (LRT ) Line 1 train from Baclaran to Tayuman in Manila using a single-journey ticket, perhaps because the P100 stored-value card is beyond your budget.
If the government’s proposed fare increase for the three urban rail systems pushes through in March, you will end up paying twice for your one-way ticket. From P15 today, it will cost P30 a few months from now. That’s an increase of P15 or 100 percent.
On the other hand, those who can afford to buy stored-value tickets will just see their one-way fare for the same trip rise from P14 to P21, an increase of just P7 or 50 percent.
Not all trips along LRT Lines 1 and 2 and Metro Rail Transit Line 3 will see such an extreme gap in fare increases for the two types of tickets. But in almost all cases, fare hikes for single-journey ticket buyers are much higher than increases for holders of stored-value cards.
Looking closely at the proposed fare increases for trips between the Baclaran station, the southern end of the LRT Line 1, and other stations to the north, Newsbreak found that fare increases were higher for single-journey tickets in 14 out of 19 cases. While the average fare increase for the 19 trips along Line 1 for stored-value ticket buyers was only P5.16 or 34.7 percent, it was P8 or 52.6 percent for single-journey ticket users. (Visit the story on Newsbreak.ph for the table on LRT Line 1 fare matrix http://www.newsbreak.ph/2011/01/13/lrt-mrt-fare-hike-will-the-poor-pay-more/)
Newsbreak found the same thing looking at the planned fare hikes for trips between the Recto station, the western end of the LRT Line 2, and other stations towards the east. In nine of 10 cases, the tariff increase was higher for single-journey ticket holders.
The average fare hike for the 10 trips along Line 2 was only P4.60 or 33.7 percent for stored-value ticket buyers. For single-journey ticket buyers, it was P6.80 or 50.3 percent.
[See Newsbreak.ph for table on LRT Line 2 fare matrix]
The DOTC has not yet released the proposed fare matrix for the MRT 3 line.
More than a simple variation from the average, the big difference in fare hikes for single-journey tickets and stored-value cards hint at possible inequities in the payment scheme.
Perhaps unintentionally, transport authorities have decreed that those who have lesser means will be shouldering a bigger fare increase than those who have more.
About 69.1 percent of LRT and MRT weekday commuters ride the train five times a week or more, according to the a Japanese aid agency’s Mega Manila Public Transport Study in 2007, suggesting that more people should be using stored-value cards.
However, 70 percent of the train riders instead use single-journey tickets even though these take longer to buy because of the lengthy queues, according to the Department of Transportation and Communication.
The widespread preference for single-journey tickets amid very frequent trips could perhaps be explained by the predominantly low income profile of LRT and MRT commuters, which limits their ability to buy the stored-value cards that sell for at least P100. The same 2007 study found that 67.7 percent of LRT and MRT riders earned monthly incomes of less than P10,000.
To be sure, the news administration of President Benigno Aquino III has a good case for raising the fares to cut rising subsidies for Metro Manila’s train systems that are better spent in poor provinces that lack basic transport infrastructure.
Former President Gloria Arroyo’s refusal to increase train fares – observers believe she feared a backlash that could destabilize her unpopular administration – resulted in higher subsidies and a deterioration in the quality of train service, according to recently released Newsbreak book, "The Seven Deadly Deals: Can Aquino Fix Arroyo’s Legacy of Costly and Messy Projects?"
Still, how the fare hike affects different income classes of commuters could have a bearing on public attitudes towards the proposed tariff increase. Already, some politicians and leaders of leftist organizations have vowed to oppose the LRT and MRT fare increases because they could hurt low-income riders, particularly students and workers.
The DOTC has promised to soften the blow on low-income riders by considering schemes such as discounts for students and senior citizens, and corporate sponsorship for poor workers.
The LRTA has a simple explanation for the price differences between single-journey tickets and stored-value cards.
They arise from the need to keep single-journey tickets easy for buyers to pay, and for tellers to give back the spare change.
The tickets come in just three denominations of P15, P20 and P30 in LRT Line 1 and P15, P20 and P25 in LRT Line 2. In contrast, stored-value cards have 18 price points (between P12 and P29) for LRT Line 1 and 13 points (between P12 and P24) for Line 2.
“How fast the tellers can give back the spare change has a big operational effect" on the length of the queues and the time it takes commuters to buy tickets, said Hernando Cabrera, the LRTA corporate secretary.
He said the LRT and MRT fare structure is no different from cigarette prices. “You’ll end up paying less if you bought the whole pack than if you bought by the stick," he said.
Commuters may have a different take. For many, riding the LRT and MRT trains is not quite the same as smoking. The DOTC is organizing public consultations on the train fare increase.
Train riders may yet have a chance to have their views aired and heard. But only if the authorities are willing to listen. (Newsbreak)
Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
INQUIRER.net
The spate of increases in utility costs, toll fees and train fare should set off a review of the existing laws on privatization, build-operate-transfer and other related agreements with the private sector to protect the interests of consumers, a partylist lawmaker said on Thursday.
Representative Teodorico Haresco of Ang Kasangga partylist said the Aquino administration should begin looking into these agreements, such as the build-operate-transfer law, and consider imposing a cap on the amount and frequency of increases on service charges imposed on consumers.
“For example, I think that there should be a certain cap on the amount and frequency on the increase of their service charges. In short, things like toll fees, electricity costs and even MRT fares should be moderate and predictable,” said Haresco, vice chairman of the House committee on small business and entrepreneurship development.
The BOT Law is covered by Republic Act No. 7718 - An Act Amending Certain Sections of Republic Act No. 6957, Entitled "An Act Authorizing The Financing, Construction, Operation And Maintenance Of Infrastructure Projects By The Private Sector, And For Other Purposes" signed into law on May 8, 1994.
Haresco said that “at present, private companies that are under BOT arrangements with the government simply impose their will on the public and the worst part of it is the fact that the government cannot do anything to stop them.”
The statement came amid the 300-percent increase in toll fees at the South Luzon Expressway, which will be implemented on a staggered basis. Train rides will also cost more after Malacanang endorsed fare increases in the Metro Rail Transit (MRT 3) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT 1 and LRT 2)—all in Metro Manila.
Those taking jeepney and buses are likely to pay more as a result of rising fuel prices and the increase in toll rates. Earlier, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board approved a hike in the flagdown rate of taxi from P30 to P40, and the per kilometer charge, from P2.50 to P3.50.
Haresco said that although services have improved under the private sector, businesses should not rush into recouping their investments.
“That's the problem in allowing the private sector to run key public utility services because while they are more efficient, private companies are doing business purely for profit, in which case, public welfare is completely set aside,” he said in a statement.
“This is something that the government should consider before entering into privatization and PPP (public private partnership) arrangements on projects that have direct public impact,” he added.
Haresco said the administration should also exercise caution in entering into more deals with the private sector through its flagship program, the Public Private Partnership, especially projects involving public utility services.
“Public welfare should not be sacrificed in exchange for capital investments. The government should exercise caution on its future privatization plans and Private Public Partnership (PPP) arrangementsand see to it that public interest is fully protected,” he said.
Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—In the wake of floods and landslides in various parts of Mindanao, Visayas and the Bicol region, Deputy Speaker Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III sought the early passage of House Bill No. 3528, otherwise known as the “People’s Survival Fund (PSF),” on Friday.
The proposed measure will help local government units (LGUs) adapt to climate change.
The bill seeks to establish a long-term, predictable fund dedicated to adaptation programs of local governments and communities.
It aims to put up a "rewards" fund, which gives incentives to LGUs actively instituting local adaptation programs.
Tañada said he preferred to call HB 3528 as the “Depensa (defense) Bill.”
In a statement, he pointed out that Nathaniel Servando, deputy administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, had attributed the abnormal weather pattern—which has caused flash floods in a large swath of Mindanao and Bicol, and caused landslides in Leyte—to climate change.
“Communities must be properly equipped and prepared to help themselves in order to respond to the disasters brought about by this phenomenon. It must also put forward a climate change adaptation strategy, which must be properly funded,” he said.
Heavy rains experienced in the Bicol region and the Samar-Leyte area have forced thousands of people to leave their houses in mountainous and low-lying areas for fear of flash floods and landslides.
In the provinces of Southern Leyte and Eastern Samar, flooding spawned by non-stop rains displaced at least 4,253 families or 20,706 people from eight towns.
The bill actually amends Republic Act No. 9729, otherwise known as the Climate Change Act of 2009, which created the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
The CCC is tasked to lead the country's response to the increasing severity and frequency of impacts due to warming temperatures worldwide.
“But the law, as written, is not enough. The Depensa Bill gives the CCC not just a project implementor role but a body exercising coordinative, capacity-building [and] consultative leadership,” Tañada said.
“I envision the PSF to become a central source of funding support for urgent adaptation activities needed by farming localities,” he said.
For example, he cited those areas requiring the deployment of small water impounding projects in anticipation of extreme drought, structures that can dramatically reduce the effects of intense flooding, and the farmers' ability to shift to crops which are more resilient to severe or prolonged high temperatures.
"Coastal communities whose fishing livelihoods may be displaced by rising sea levels can also access and benefit from the establishment of such a fund should they choose to formulate early and proactive adaptation plans, Tañada said.
The funds would come from private and public sources, as well as foreign aid, said the lawmaker.
The bill is pending with the Committee on Ecology chaired by Rep. Danilo Ramon S. Fernandez since October 2010.
A similar measure, Senate Bill No. 2558, authored by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, is being tackled in the upper chamber.
Special report: Mining threatens 4th largest freshwater lake in RP
CAGAYAN DE ORO City, Jan. 12, 2011—Mineral explorations and mining activities are threatening the biodiversity of the Philippines’ fourth largest and Mindanao’s second
largest freshwater lake, Lake Mainit, which is being shared by the provinces of
Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte.
Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte.
Lake Mainit, located in the northeastern part of the southern Philippines, also carries the distinction of being the deepest lake in the country with maximum depth of 223 meters. It has a total area of about 17,060 hectares and its lakeshore has total length of 62.10 kilometers, which is being shared by 31 barangays of the Surigao del Norte towns of Mainit and Surigao del Norte, and Agusan del Norte towns of Kitcharao and Jabonga.
Lake Mainit is the habitat of rare fish species like the puyo or perch and gabot, which are being threatened due to the introduction of new fish species. But more than fish, the whole biodiversity of Lake Mainit is being endangered by human activities such as mining, making the lake and its surrounding area of very high ecological value.
Of the 15 exploration permits (EP) that the Regional Office 13 of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Environment department approved as of June 30, 2010, seven are in the town of Mainit, Surigao del Norte, and one in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte.
The rest are in the Agusan del Sur towns of Bunawan, Prosperidad and Bayugan; Agusan del Norte towns of Tubay, Cabadbaran and Santiago; Surigao del Norte towns of Malimono, Tubod, Bacuag, Placer, Sison and Claver; and Surigao del Sur town of Marihatag. One is in Libjo in the Province of Dinagat Islands.
The tenement holders of these approved EPs are Minimax Mineral Exploration Corp.; Silangan Mindanao Mining Co., Inc.; Manila Mining Corp.; Coolabah Mining Corp.; Occidental Mining Corp.; MRL Gold Phils., Inc.; and Kalayaan Copper-Gold Resources, Inc.
All these companies are prospecting gold and other mineral resources in a total land area covering 19,773.29 hectares of land around Lake Mainit.
And the lake’s traditional keeper—the Mamanwa tribe, who claims the lake’s surrounding areas as part of their ancestral land—are howling to high heavens to help protect the pristine beauty of the lake and their territories.
Fortunately, the Mamanwas are not alone in this fight. Residents of the municipality of Mainit, Surigao del Norte (including those working and based in Manila and abroad) are using modern technology like the internet to protest against large-scale mining in the lake’s environs.
Using a blogsite called Pidjanga, the residents of Mainit denounced mining companies, most especially the Mindoro Resources Limited (MRL) causing environmental degradation to the already endangered Lake Mainit.
Pidjanga blogsite’s host, Zimmbodilion Yap Mosende, monitoring and evaluation adviser to UNAIDS Philippines, said MRL entered Mainit without informing the residents of its activities.
Mosende also said that MRL has formed small-scale miners into a cooperative without consulting the residents and informing them of the environmental impact of such move, which he said will only exacerbate the denudation of Mt. Diwata ranges surrounding Lake Mainit.
Nokie Calunsag, campaign officer of the environmental non-government organization Green Mindanao Association, Inc. said the entry of mining companies into the surrounding municipalities of the lake is a “very big challenge.”
“This is really a very big challenge, especially on how to prevent them from further destroying our environment,” he told this reporter by mobile phone.
Calunsag said that Green Mindanao and other environmentalists should work together to help preserve and rehabilitate Lake Mainit by using modern technology such as the internet and the media.
“If we continue shouting through the media, I think they will be moved to listen to us,” he added.
Green Mindanao founder, president and executive director, said that the lake’s surrounding communities should also take action to chart a better future for them and for the lake, which is the source of livelihood for many of them.
“Communities should be empowered to control invasive development,” he said through mobile phone.
The Lake Mainit Development Alliance (LMDA), now headed by Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol Matugas, which serves as the coordinating body in the Lake Mainit area, is not doing anything to prevent mining from destroying the diverse ecosystem of the lake and its environs, said Calunsad.
The LMDA, organized in 1999, is an association of the local government units in the Lake Mainit area, concerned government line agencies and civil society organizations. Its main mission is to protect the ecology of the lake system and the environment that sustains the lake. One of its responsibilities is to assist LGUs in the conservation and protection and pursuing sustainable development and the management of the lake, including people empowerment.
But Calunsad said: “Wala. Deadma lang sila (Nothing. They just ignore us),” when asked what the LMDA is doing regarding the entry of mining companies in the lake’s surrounding areas.
According to Calunsad, it will not be Lake Mainit that will only suffer the consequences of peoples’ and LGUs’ inaction about mining but also the diverse ecosystem of the municipalities surrounding the lake — Alegria, Mainit, Kitcharao and Jabonga, with the two upstream and headwater municipalities of Sison and Tubod, and with the downstream municipalities of Santiago and Tubay.
Growing population, wasteful practices and invasive development like mining in the lake areas is also beginning to negatively impact the Lake Mainit watershed, which is composed of five ecosystems —upland, lowland, rivers, lake and coastal areas — thus, its sustainability is now in question.
One report posted on the Pidjanga blogsite said that Jerry Acero, a forester working at Surigao del Norte School of Arts and Trades who also sits as member of LMDA, said exploration and full mining operations especially at the top ridge downhill to the lake will have adverse impact on the lake and its watersheds which will be felt both on short and long term effects.
Acero cited the effects such as loss of vegetation, which is vital to climate change, change in bio-diversity and change in water quality, among other things.
Lake Mainit is situated slightly below the small peninsula running north from the eastern side of Mindanao. It is located 42 kms north of Surigao City and approximately 82 kms south of Butuan City. Lying on its eastern coastline are the Diwata mountain range including Mt. Kabatuan and Mt. Mabaho. On the western border is the southern ridge of Mt. Tendito that extends up to the town of Tubay and walls the lake in the east but drops steeply to the coast.
Lake Mainit is fed by twenty small rivers and creeks but has only one outlet, the Calinawan River, which flows southward to join Aciga River and forms the Tubay River which eventually flows out into Butuan Bay. It is eutrophic with high primary production despite a low standing crop, indicating high turnover.
The lake is clear with 1% of the indirect sunlight penetrating to a depth of 13 meters indicating that primary production is distributed throughout a substantial depth of the water column. The lake water is greenish and odorless with an average transparency of 3.0 meters. The coastal substrate is sandy mud. The maximum depth is 223 m and the mean depth is 128 m. It is, thus, the deepest lake in the Philippines.
The mouth of the lake outlet is increasingly becoming shallow as a result of silt deposition in the area due to a denuded mountainside where timber and mining companies operate, which threatens the watershed area as well as the lake.
Mining waste, domestic sewage, fertilizers and pesticides are serious pollutants of the lakewater that also threatens the resident, non-migratory fish in the lake such as white goby, mud gudgeon, mudfish, goby, catfish, climbing perch, among others.
Migratory fish species that call Lake Mainit home are milkfish, mullet, golden snapper, red snapper, eel, spadefish, jack, silverside and rabbitfish.
Lake Mainit is also home to endemic bird species such as Dendrocygna arcuata, Bubulcus, Aythya fuligula, Ixobrychus cinnamomeus, Megalurus alustris, Geopelia striata and Lanius schach. (Bong D. Fabe)
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The year 2011 started not with a bang but a lot of whimper – whimper, that is, from many Filipinos who complain about tough times ahead.
Much of the discontent so far is focused on the increasing cost of transportation. There’s the 300-percent increase in the toll fees for the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX); because many of the capital’s produce are sourced from the south, this inevitably raised as well the prices of certain goods, such as vegetables.
There’s the increase as well of the flag-down rates of taxis and the hike in the prices of basic commodities such as sugar and flour.
Then there’s the increase in MRT and LRT fares, which is eyed for implementation by March 1.
An analysis by the online newsmagazine Newsbreak shows that the MRT-lRT fare hikes will affect the poor most. It explains that the price of single-journey tickets will increase by 100% while the price of stored-value tickets increased by only 50%. Most rail commuters opt to buy single-journey tickets because, as Newsbreak points out, a stored-value ticket, which can be bought for P100, is out of their budget. But the publication finds that a single-journey ticket costs more per trip than a stored-value ticket.
The only thing that doesn’t increase, many minimum wage earners complain, is their salary, which in Metro Manila is pegged at P404 (less than $10) that barely covers the most basic necessities of a small family.
Shirley Pascua, 35, a housewife, thinks that the poor are getting poorer under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III. “He is proving to be a disappointment. The price of everything is going up,” she told Bulatlat.com.
Pascua’s husband is a taxi driver. She said what he makes is barely enough to make ends meet. They have two children; Adrian, 13, and Marielle, 12. “It’s a good thing my eldest is in a good school. If not for his scholarship, we will not be able to send him to a school like that,” Pascua said. Her youngest will also apply for the scholarship in the same high school.
A child in the slum community of Isla Puting Bato. Many like her are certain to suffer more as prices of basic commodities shoot up. (Photo by Ayi S. Muallam/ bulatlat.com)
Her husband’s take-home pay is barely enough for their daily needs. “I just hope that none of us gets sick,” she said, noting a concern raised by many poor Filipinos.
Pascua thinks the P40 increase in the flag-down rate for taxis, to be implemented on Jan. 21, is useless. “The price of all basic commodities will surely shoot up. What’s the use of the increase in the flag-down rate?” she said. She worries that her family will face dire poverty the rest of the year.
Rowena Lopez, 34, is also a housewife with seven children. Her husband is a jeepney driver who earns P700 a day. She said the increase in prices of basic commodities affects their budget especially with seven mouths to feed. “We make do with what my husband earns,” she said.
A consumer buying vegetable at a Quezon City market told Bulatlat.com that all prices are going up but not their salaries. A 40-year-old government employee said there is nothing left for to save, what with all prices going up.
Reasonable?
In a statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes said this week that “no MRT fare increase can be deemed ‘reasonable,’ not when wages have remained nailed to the floor and not when prices of other commodities and services are also increasing.”
One of the 1.2 million commuters that will be affected by the MRT fare increase is Vincent Tolosa, 20, a systems engineer. He was stunned upon learning that the MRT and LRT will implement a 100-percent increase on March 1. He said the increase in MRT fare will affect his budget. He is a regular passenger of both MRT and LRT. “It will be a huge deduction from my earnings,” he said.
Even a non-regular passenger of MRT sympathizes with the rail commuters. Anikka Yap, a 20-year-old student, said the current fare is affordable. “There will be many regular passengers of MRT if the fare hike is implemented,” she said.
Yap noted the hassle in riding the MRT, especially during the rush hour when huge numbers of people are lining up in stations. Asked by Bulatlat.com if she believes that the fare hike will help to improve the rail services, as claimed by the government, Yap replied: “No. It will still be same old, same old.”
A 72-year-old regular passenger of MRT, Bert Santos, laments that the government doesn’t seem to care for the poor. “Nothing seems to be stopping them from increasing the prices of everything. All they think about are themselves while the poor suffer,” Santos said.
Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – As support for Charter change snowballs, one of its main proponents at the House of Representatives pitched for the creation of a multi-sectoral alliance to push for moves to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone said he planned to talk to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and Catholic bishops to synchronize their efforts to popularize charter change among the public.
“We can join forces to push for this,” Evardone said in a text message.
Evardone, chairman of the public information committee, said that the alliance could spearhead moves to conduct an information dissemination campaign to make the public aware of charter change and to get their sentiments on this.
“We will counter any attempt to use cha-cha [Charter change] to suit certain economic and political interest,” he added.
Malacanang and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said that amending the Constitution was not a priority of the Aquino administration this year.
But several lawmakers believe that Charter change debates should already begin.
Deputy Speaker and Zamboanga City Representative Ma. Isabelle Climaco said that issues on Charter change should be threshed out at the committee level and then in plenary, stressing that “outputs are essential.”
Maguindanao Representative Simeon Datumanong also supports moves to look into the economic provisions of the Constitution.
“We hope the administration will consider the long rage of need of the country instead of just the present situation,” said Datumanong, co-author of a House resolution calling for constitutional convention.
Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo acknowledged the need for the President’s support for Charter change. Otherwise, all efforts by lawmakers and various groups would be useless, he said.
In a separate statement, Bayan Muna partylist Representative Teodoro Casino said Congress should instead pass the long overdue bill against political dynasty if it wanted to reform the political landscape.
Reacting to Puno's call for charter change to reform the political system, Casiño said more than changing the Constitution, what was needed was to ensure that its anti-dynasty provision and other progressive sections would be followed to the letter.
"The former chief justice rightfully observed that power has been monopolized by the economic and political elite, especially powerful political clans. So why not pass the enabling law that would make the Constitutional ban on political dynasties a living reality in our national life?" said the lawmaker.
House Bill 3413 (An Act Prohibiting the Establishment of Political Dynasties) authored by Casino clearly defines Political Dynasty as the concentration, consolidation or perpetuation of public office and political power by persons related to one another. A political dynasty shall also be deemed to exist where two (2) or more persons who are spouses or are related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity run simultaneously for elective public office within the same city and/or province, even if neither is so related to an incumbent elective official.
A Political Dynasty Relationship exists “when a person who is the spouse of an incumbent elective official or a relative within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity of an incumbent elective official holds or runs for an elective office simultaneously with the incumbent elective official within the same city and/or province or occupies the same office immediately after the term of office of the incumbent elective official.”
Co-authors of the landmark measure are Partylist Representatives Neri Javier Colmenares (Bayan Muna), Rafael Mariano (Anakpawis), Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana De Jesus (Gabriela), Antonio Tinio (Act Teachers), and Raymond Palatino (Kabataan).
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