SLEX toll rates to go up gradually until April

South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) toll rates will go up each month from January to April until the fees reach what regulators have approved. "For January, we are voluntarily giving a discount of 11.4 percent," said Isaac David, president of SLEX operator South Luzon Tollways Corp. (SLTC). "For February, the discount will go down to 7 percent and for March, it will be 4 percent," he said in an interview with reporters Tuesday. "By April, we will implement the approved full rate," David added. SLTC reiterated the 250-percent increase on Jan. 1 was a discounted rate and a sign of goodwill for motorists. The current and previous fees for various vehicles passing through the entire length of SLEX are:

• Class 1 P76 from P22
• Class 2 P152 from P43
• Class 3 P228 from P65

The current fees translate to an 11.4-percent average discount from the toll rates approved by the Toll Regulatory Board, according to SLTC. Under the approved rate matrix, SLTC may charge up to P86 for Class 1 vehicles, P172 for Class 2, and P258 for class 3. SLTC, the local unit of Malaysian conglomerate MTD Capital Berhad, owns the rights to operate and manage the toll road for 25 years from 2006. Its contract with the Philippine government allows the operator to raise to SLEX raise toll rates for it to recoup the P14 billion it has invested to improve the highway. Higher SLEX toll rates were supposed to take effect in July 2009, but a court order kept SLTC from raising its fees. Malacañang earlier said it would review the increase in SLEX toll rates. — VS/KBK, GMANews.TV