POE PANEL SETS DEC. 17 HEARING ON RFID SYSTEM

The Senate public services committee headed by Sen. Grace Poe will dig into the decision to implement the cashless system in the major tollways that has resulted in gridlocks and left motorists stuck on the road for hours.

Poe's committee will convene on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 1:30 p.m. to tackle three resolutions seeking to look into the implementation of the contactless transaction through the radio frequency identification (RFID).

The senator said the panel wants to be enlightened on how government regulators would fix the procedure in the toll plazas to address congestion.

"Unang-una, nais nating maayos ang sitwasyon para sa ating mga kababayan, na hindi naman sila napeperwisyo at nahihirapang pumila doon at nakababad ng matagal. Pangalawa, nais nating malaman ano ba talaga ang naging dahilan kung bakit hindi maayos ang pagpapatakbo nito?" Poe said.

"Gusto nating tanungin ang DOTr, maganda kasi ang pakay ng pagkakaroon ng cashless system... pero ang problema dito, kahit naman sa ibang mga bansa na maayos ang sistema kaysa dito, hindi naman ganu'n kabilis nagagawa ang mga ganyan. Matagal 'yan, may proseso 'yan," she explained.

The cashless system should also be seamless for all tollways so that motorists do not have to get separate RFID stickers for each.

The committee will also look into complaints that some RFID readers are malfunctioning.

Poe said the cashless system should offer motorists ease of travel along the expressways while keeping them away from the possibility of the coronavirus transmission when using cash payment.

"Cashless nga dahil may pandemic para 'di maghawahan. Kung pipila ka naman at kukuha ng sticker dahil nagmamadali lahat eh 'di nagkahawahan din," she said.

Without preempting the outcome of the hearing, Poe noted that government regulators were slow in acting on the snarl-up at the expressways despite the everyday complaint of motorists.

"'Yung Toll Regulatory Board ay parang natulog sa pansitan," she said.