One time, I did, but I am not a government official (un)fortunately. From Cubao, I was queuing to buy a ticket going to Ortigas station. As usual, there was a long queu. I prepared one 10-peso coin and one 5-peso coin. Nearing the teller, I noticed that the fare for Cubao-Ortigas was only Php10. It was too late to move to the "exact face" queu which moved faster than the queu I was in.
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| Picture from the internet |
What? Php10 or (0.18 Euro cents or 0.23 USD cents) for a train ride to Ortigas of more than 5 kilometers! Where in the world you can get that, only in the Philippines. It was cheap, very cheap. And I felt a bit guilty for getting something more out of what I spent.
Somebody must be losing a lot of money because of this. Then, I read a news that the Philippine government has subsidized the riding public amounting to Php75 billion for 10 years in MRT alone. Similar amount (Php75 billion) has been allocated for LRT 1 for 10 years as well.
Let's breakdown the subsidies in MRT to understand and appreciate how much we are talking about here. Php75 billion subsidy for 10 years means that Php7.5 billion per year; Php625 million per month; Php20.8 million per day. This is how much our government pays for the 487,000 individuals who use the MRT everyday. Php20.8 million everyday from the government in MRT alone.
Why is our government paying so much?
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| From http://www.urbanrail.net |
It was because of the Build-Operate-Transfer contract by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) with the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) who built MRT3 and has assumed responsibility over the operation and maintenance of the MRT system. The DOTC is obliged to pay an agreed fee to reimburse the operating and maintenance costs for certain number of years.
Php20.8 million a day in MRT alone, on behalf of 487,000 individuals in Metro Manila.
Tsk.. tsk.. tsk.. Like you, I think this is too much. Our government can not afford to continue this when there are children without classrooms and basic health care in the provinces, and farmers who need farm-to-market roads in the rural areas, just to name a few of the pressing needs of millions of our kababayans.
The DOTC, through Sec. Roxas, announced that the subsidy would continue until the allocated fund is drained. What?!! Until when?!! Php20.8 million a day for 487,000 people in Metro Manila.
Let me tell you that not all of the 487,000 riders need subsidies. There are office workers, foreign students, and tourists who can afford to pay extra for the MRT ride.
Here are some proposals to save OUR money.
- Implement a graduated fare hike starting from this year. One group of riders such as Filipino students, persons with disabilities, and senior citizens will be exempted from this initial fare hike of Php5 (Set up a separate cashier/teller for this group of people for additional employment). Another group such as office workers, foreign students and tourists, and ordinary riders have to add P5 pesos from the original fare. Then, next year (2013) the first and second groups will add P5. Every year after that, there will be an additional Php5 to reduce the subsidies until the riding public will have to pay large part of the actual cost of the ride. The savings from these supposed subsidies is proposed to be invested in education such as building more classrooms in the countryside.
- Review the contract with MRTC because the subsidies are quite staggeringly expensive and outrageous for two reasons: the capacity of the train is over-extended and comfort is non-existent. Ask any riders in MRT and they would describe their ride as overcrowded. Here is a little math. If the agreed capacity is 100, for example, the train is having double that capacity. Thus, compromising the comfort of a modern train ride. The subsidy must be lowered because trains are running at full capacity without comfort of the riders. Renegotiate the contract to reduce the subsidies.
- Look for other revenue-generating opportunities in MRT such as ads, stalls, shops, mobile banking though ATMs and bank express, etc.
- Do the first three (3) proposals with LRT 1 and 2
Think of Php20.8 million everyday for 487,000 people in Metro Manila who take the MRT. Add that to several millions of similar subsidies for the LRT 1 and 2.
I know that there are millions of our kababayans who are in dire need for their basic education such as lack of classrooms, books, chairs, etc.. Let's spend OUR money to those who need it most.
RATIONALIZE the MRT, LRT FARES and REDUCE SUBSIDIES. INVEST IN EDUCATION, BUILD MORE CLASSROOMS instead. NOW!
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