MANILA, Philippines - Unless the heavens intervene and or the mandarins in Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) take the side of oppositors, the skyway toll will shoot roof... barely a week after 300% toll hike on $£€X.
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GOOD NEWS: DoTC Secretary Jose de Jesus inaugurates on Wednesday Phase 2 of the Skyway continuing from Bicutan to Alabang... enabling the Ayala Alabang high-end commuters to reach Makati in 20 minutes, while decongesting the hoi polloi traffic on ground expressway.
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BAD NEWS: On Wednesday afternoon, TRB will hear CITRA Metro Manila Tollways Corporation's (CMMTC) bid to hike the Skyway rates against (unless a miracle intervenes) futile efforts of oppositors.
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There's one incontrovertible objection to the 300% hike on the stretch from Alabang to Calamba: Commuters from Villamor to Alabang have alternative East and West service roads; but there are no alternative parallel service roads from Alabang to Sta. Rosa.
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Which means that TRB allowed the toll hike on $£€X despite the fact that an old existing road was completely hijacked without providing alternative route.
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Talk about enfranchising robber barons. In a manner of speaking, that was like giving a franchise to charge for oxygen needed by those taking this route.
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CMMTC is entitled to return on investment; but a franchise carries a commitment to public service. Is there a franchise bill moderating RoI in this country?
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On our weekend trip to Sabangan in Laiya, we missed the expressway to the Star Express (and lost another 15 minutes) because we exited following the sign to "Batangas."
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It doesn't seem to $£€X's interest to inform the commuter before the "Batangas" exit that by driving straight further on the expressway, we would connect to another expressway to Batangas.
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In the event, the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Sabangan in Laiya beach was worth the odyssey. Our hosts Jun and Lita Salvador set up Sabangan as proof of the pudding to their daughter Joy's AIM thesis for a holiday resort.
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Lita, a disciple of the late high priestess of environment Odette Alcantara, is prime mover in the band of Laiya resort owners to protect the beach.
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Laiya is closer to Manila and a far cry from the pell-mell of Boracay and Puerto Gallera. But don't even think of booking this Holy Week. Call Sabangan after the holidays to escape on a weekend for an affordable piece of paradise.
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On the way back, we were wiser and took the Star Tollway... which had a hip joint connection to a 7.3 km.TR3 expressway for P32 (recently exponentially hiked from P8)... which connected to Southern Luzon Tollway (hiked from P86 to P150).
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Query: Can we speed up the flow by consolidating different franchises or introducing a common ticketing system to spare commuters from stopping at three toll booths between Manila and Batangas?
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Glossary: Update on $£€X a.k.a. South Superhighway, officially known as Radial Road 3 or R-3, a network of three expressways connecting Metro Manila to Calabarzon. The first is the Metro Manila Skyway System, operated jointly by the Skyway Operation and Management Corporation (SomCo) and CMMTC. The second is the South Luzon Tollway or Alabang-Calamba-Sto.Tomas Expressway operated by the South Luzon Tollway Corporation, a joint venture of PNCC and MTD Capital Berhad and the Manila Toll Expressway Systems, Inc. (MATES). The third is the STAR Tollway operated by STAR Infrastructure Development Corporation (STAR-IDC), running from Santo Tomas to Batangas City. Feedback: jaz_aide@yahoo.com
