Starting June 1, 2024, Benguet and the Cordillera region farmers will soon benefit from the toll rebates to Department of Agriculture (DA-CAR) accredited truckers transporting agricultural products from the region.
This was confirmed by DA Assistant Secretary for Logistics Daniel Atayde during the culminating activity of the Farmers and Fisherfolk Month in Baguio City that featured the ‘Paella à la Cordillera’ at the Melvin Jones Grand Stand in Burnham Park.
Atayde stated that with the said rebate on tollways, Benguet truckers and vegetable traders will now have the opportunity to decrease additional charges included in the sale of agricultural products, particularly highland vegetables sold in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
“The Toll Regulatory Board, together with San Miguel and Metro Pacific Group, announced that they will be giving a discount on all of their tollways. Normally, add-on charges are applied by farmers and traders on the sale of highland vegetables, so at least this will help in decreasing the prices, this is one of the results of our recent visit with Secretary Laurel at the Benguet Agri Pinoy Trading Center last January so the government delivered,” Atayde said.
In the last visit of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. in Benguet and Baguio City, the Secretary instructed Asec. Atayde will assist the Benguet Vegetable Truckers and Traders Association in resolving the challenges that they are currently confronting.
Under the Toll Rebate program, DA-accredited truckers shall receive toll rebates equivalent to recently implemented toll hikes starting in June 2023.
The rebate program will initially run for three months and be subject to review for possible extension, depending on the inflationary situation.
Benefits of Luzon trade: approximately 200 to 300 farm product-carrying trucks traveling on expressways in both northern and southern Luzon will benefit from the program and protect the welfare of the general public by minimizing the impact of toll rate increase on the overall inflationary situation and ensuring food price stability.
The toll rebate program covers users of several expressways, including North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), Subic-Clark Expressway (SCTEX), and Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX). For those using SMC Tollways-operated toll roads, the average rebate ranges from P2 to P30, depending on the vehicle class.
DA-accredited truckers using MPTC-operated expressways are eligible for a rebate ranging from P16 to P156, depending on the distance and vehicle class. The DA must duly accredited truckers to qualify for the program and have valid Autosweep and Easytrip RFID accounts.
Spot-checking will be conducted to ensure the program’s integrity and prevent abuse. The measure aims to confirm that enrolled trucks transport agricultural goods or products. Program disqualification is faced by those who do not comply with the guidelines. By JTLlanes