AS TERMINAL fees in the country’s main gateway are set to soar next month, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) party-list is asking the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to hit the brakes and prioritize lowering fares instead of doubling them.
This after Transport Secretary Vince Dizon himself defended the increase, saying it was part of the concession agreement with New NAIA Infra Corp.
The TUCP on Saturday, August 23, said Dizon should make sure that NAIA services have improved and have become more efficient before allowing the increase.
TUCP party-list’s Rep. Raymond Mendoza said that many Filipinos are struggling economically and lowering fees and fares is the fair move.
The terminal fee at NAIA will increase on September 14, exactly a year since NNIC took over airport operations.
For departing international flights, the fee will go up to P950 from P550; while the domestic flight terminal fee almost doubles to P390 from P200 per passenger.
Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Eric Ines told ABS-CBN News that the terminal fee currently is “one of the lowest — if not the lowest — in the Southeast Asian region.”
Mendoza, in the same statement, scored Dizon for seeming to be quick to support fee increases: “Bakit sa diskwento sa tren para sa ating mga manggagawang minimum — na araw-araw pumipila ng madaling araw at nakikipagsiksikan araw-araw — ay tikom ang bibig?”
He called on the DOTr to sympathize with workers whose salary is barely enough to feed their families.
The party-list proposed last week a 50-percent discount on fares on Light Rail Transit (LRT)-1, LRT-2 and Metro Rail Transit-3.
Mendoza reminded the DOTr that “public service” would mean prioritizing the interests of common Filipino workers over the interests of private firms.
He said it would be easy to verify that a passenger is a minimum-wage earner through certificates of employment and payslips.
“Huwag hayaang masakripisyo ang kakarampot na sweldo ng manggagawa na dapat ay para sa pagkain at pabahay para lamang makapasok at makauwi galing trabaho,” he said.
TUCP stated earlier that minimum-wage workers are “left behind” with the government’s 50-percent fare discount for students, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and senior citizens on LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3. (ABS-CBN News)
