Motorists pass by the RFID lanes of the NLEx Connector ramp in Manila. 鈥� GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vivencio 鈥淰ince鈥� Dizon has suspended the full cashless payment on expressways.
Dizon announced it on Friday after the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said that all vehicles passing through expressways must be equipped with Radio-Frequency Identification (RFIDs) for cashless payment starting March 15, or they would be penalized.
READ: TRB to restart cashless toll system by March 15
鈥淚鈥檓 telling you right now I鈥檝e already told TRB to suspend that,鈥� Dizon said, marking the order as his first directive as Department of Transportation (DOTr) chief.
Dizon explained the expressway system must be 鈥減erfected,鈥� particularly technical issues such as undetectable RFIDs and unresponsive barriers.
New Transport Secretary Vince Dizon takes his oath before President Ferdinand Marcos on Feb. 21 in Malaca帽ang (Photo from Presidential Communications Office)
The DOTr chief also said he sees making the cashless method mandatory as 鈥渁nti-poor,鈥� especially for struggling Filipinos who have no time to top up their RFIDs.
鈥淭he need to regulate should not result in making the lives of people difficult,鈥� Dizon said. 鈥淚 think this cashless thing is torture, so I don鈥檛 believe in it.鈥�
鈥淢aybe once the system has been perfected, but right now? I don鈥檛 believe in it鈥e are not going cashless for the foreseeable future,鈥� he added.