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A number of trucks staged a lightning protest against higher toll rates at the North Luzon Expressway on the morning of July 21
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The protest action on Anda Circle in Manila began at 6am and ended before 9am, snarling traffic in the port area
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The Central Luzon Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations is threatening more protest action if the rate hike is not rolled back
A number of trucks staged a lightning protest against higher toll rates at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) on the morning of July 21, snarling traffic in the area.
Led by the Central Luzon Group of the Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations (ACTOO), the protest on Anda Circle along Bonifacio Drive in Manila began at around 6am and ended before 9am. Trucks blocked two lanes of the busy thoroughfare.
The association urged toll operator NLEX Corporation to stop the increase in toll fees with the trucking industry yet to recover from effects of the pandemic. They questioned the timing of the rate hike, saying it goes against government directives to cut logistics costs since the hike will bump up inflation.
Under the new toll fee matrix, motorists traveling anywhere within the open system, from Metro Manila to Marilao, Bulacan, will pay an additional P7 for Class 1 vehicles, P17 for Class 2 vehicles, and P19 for Class 3 vehicles. The new rates took effect on June 15.
The group threatened more protest action if their demand is not heeded. Connie Tinio, head of the Central Luzon Truckers’ Group and director of ACTOO, said succeeding protest actions will be joined by up to 200 trucks from Central Luzon ACTOO.
The new rates, which NLEX Corp. said underwent thorough regulatory reviews and approvals, were part of the authorized NLEX periodic adjustments due in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020.
(Revised on July 25, 2023 to correct name of organization that spearheaded the protest action as well as designation of Connie Tinio.)
