THE Aquino government played a Grinch role to commuters last Christmas when it announced that there will be a uniform rate increase for the MRT3 and the LRT1 and LRT2 train lines in the Metro. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) began implementing the new rates last Sunday which roughly doubled the fares for the 1.3 million commuters riding the trains daily.
Secretary Joseph Abaya and government apologists defended the increase and called it “necessary.” It will supposedly lighten government subsidy of the train companies. Abaya estimated that around a billion pesos from the additional income coming from the increase will go to the MRT Corporation as part of its agreement with the private concessionaire instead on upgrades on the line.
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