DIVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) claimed on Tuesday that the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) “keeps delaying” the toll collection for the Skyway 3, even as its concession agreement provides for the imposition of tariffs once it reaches a 95-percent completion rate.
Ramon S. Ang, the company’s president, said the company is currently shelling out millions of pesos to maintain the expressway despite not collecting toll from motorists.
He said operations and maintenance costs the conglomerate P10 billion, or based on the BusinessMirror’s computation, roughly P833 million per month. The expressway was opened in late December and is currently free for the public.
Currently, it serves roughly 60,000 vehicles per day.
“Basically, TRB is insisting that Skyway 3 cannot start full operations and collect toll until all ramps are 100 percent complete. Our supplemental toll operation agreement states that we can start collecting at 95 percent completion—we are now 97 percent complete,” Ang said.
He added that the imposition of toll is necessary for the road project to be viable. The food-to-infrastructure firm spent roughly P80 billion to build the elevated expressway in Metro Manila, widely praised for providing an alternative to congested Edsa for those traversing north and south portions of the NCR.
“We need sufficient funds for the toll road’s daily maintenance, proper long-term upkeep and to keep it safe and efficient for the motoring public. As Skyway 3’s losses have been mounting because TRB keeps delaying the start of toll collection, the quickest way for our infrastructure unit to speed up 100 percent completion of the ramps would have been to close Skyway 3,” Ang explained.
He said he has already received the commitment from Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, who is also TRB chairman, for the “urgent and prudent” action for this issue.
“Secretary Tugade understands our predicament. Skyway 3 was built at no cost to government. SMC fully-funded the over P80 billion cost to build it. After years of hard work, we opened it last December 29 so we can start serving the public for free, for a reasonable amount of time,” Ang said.
Ang lamented that operating and maintaining the expressway for free for three months has cost the company substantial foregone revenues.
“We have also made a lot of concessions—including lowering toll fees—in the interest of the public. Also, Skyway 3 is new, but heavy everyday use causes it to deteriorate if not maintained properly. We spend a lot for its upkeep, and at the same time lose a lot in foregone revenues. We cannot operate this and serve people if the project is not generating revenues,” he added.
Company estimates show that Skyway 3 could only generate a total of P4 billion in revenues per year, given that it “lowered the proposed toll rates significantly.”
“Basically, we have done everything to make sure we can viably operate Skyway 3 right away, so we can serve motorists and fulfill our goal, which is to lessen traffic in Metro Manila and hopefully, through better connectivity, create more jobs and economic opportunities for more Filipinos. This is really a team effort, and we need to work together for our country to succeed,” Ang said.
Transport officials have yet to respond to media requests for comment and clarification as of writing time.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
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