MRT commuters to get P7.3-billion subsidy

MANILA, Philippines – A commuter regularly taking the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will receive a fare subsidy from the government to the tune of P23,850 next year, according to a lawmaker.

Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez said the administration will allocate P7.3 billion in fare subsidy or P47.70 per MRT passenger in the proposed national budget for next year.

“One who rides the MRT to and from his office five times a week for a year receives more subsidy than a student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP),” he said.

Alvarez said the P7.3 billion will be used to shoulder the cost of ferrying the 420,000 MRT passengers everyday, a volume that adds up to 152 million for 2011.

“The math here is that a worker who rides the MRT twice a day from Monday to Friday gets a daily subsidy, courtesy of his fellow taxpayers, of about P96, or P23,850 for 250 days,” he said.

In contrast, an engineering student at PUP receives P13,600 in annual government subsidy, he added.

Alvarez said the annual fare subsidy for a regular MRT rider is enough to buy him four round-trip tickets to Hong Kong on a budget airline.

“(The MRT’s current fare structure) is unfair to taxpayers in other parts of Luzon, in Visayas and Mindanao because they do not use the MRT but they help in its upkeep,” he said.

“A cost recovery is long overdue. I am not saying that the commuter must pay for the whole cost. In fact, I am against that.

“What I am saying is that perhaps adding the cost of, say, one text message or one peso per ticket is not a burden on one’s pocket and a small price to pay for zooming above EDSA’s horrendous traffic.”

Alvarez said the government subsidy of P7.3 billion for MRT commuters next year will eat up a fourth of the Department of Transportation and Communications’ proposed budget of P31.1 billion for next year.

“If you’re a car owner and you can pay P50 for whole day parking for your car inside a mall adjacent to an MRT station, then what is an additional P1 in your MRT fare?” he said.

On the other hand, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo backs the subsidy program for MRT commuters.

“Our sense is the subsidy is fair and reasonable, based on the principle that those who have less wherewithal are entitled to more support from the State,” he said.

“The other option is to raise fares and take an equal amount, or P7.3 billion, out of the pockets of MRT commuters, mostly salaried employees and wage earners, plus students, who deserve the subsidy.”

Romulo cautioned the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management against allowing a large subsidy withdrawal and a corresponding significant fare increase.

“(A substantial increase in MRT fares) could possibly drive away cost-sensitive commuters, thus implying potential revenue erosion,” he said.

“This might force government to later come in and cover the revenue shortfall anyway.

“In that case, the remedy is not to deprive MRT commuters of subsidy, but to augment infrastructure and other forms of public spending that would benefit people in the Visayas and Mindanao.”

The minimum MRT fare would be increased to about P25, according to Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus. –Jess Diaz and Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)