• Home
• Business
• National
• Metro
• Opinion
• Sports
• Entertainment
• Living

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) is also demanding payment from state-owned Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) of the agency’s unpaid concession fees amounting to P3.943 billion.

TRB executive director Manuel Imperial said PNCC’s unpaid fees have been accumulating since Dec. 9, 2009.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has ordered PNCC to settle the amount with the TRB.

"You are hereby instructed to pay immediately concession fee owing to the TRB," the finance chief said in a letter dated July 16.

The PNCC’s concession fee represents 20 percent of gross income.

The national government, through the finance department, has also asked PNCC to turn over to the treasury an estimated P7.1 billion in toll revenues that the state agency collected from May 1, 2007 after its franchise expired on April 30, 2007.

The DOF said the PNCC said could no longer keep its toll fee collection since this power was tied to its franchise, which was not extended by Congress before the expiry date.

The finance department said the PNCC is now acting as agent of the national government and should, therefore, surrender all its toll fee revenues to the state coffers.

"You are hereby instructed to remit immediately to the National Treasury all toll fees you have collected since the date your franchise expired," the DOF said in a letter to PNCC.

PNCC operates a portion of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and has a 20 percent stake in the South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC), the joint venture with Malaysia investors to develop and operate most of the length of toll road up to Laguna.

The PNCC was the original holder of the concession for the North and South Luzon expressways. - Dennis Gadil

• Business Insight
• Business