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MVP considering toll holiday during EDSA rehab

Business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, who leads Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), on Tuesday expressed intent to follow the lead of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and impose a toll holiday during the rehabilitation of EDSA, the country's busiest highway. According to Pangilinan, MPTC should consider a toll holiday and take the lead from SMC in waiving toll fees in portions of the Skyway Stage 3 while EDSA is being rehabilitated. "I think we also have a connector. Maybe we should do the same thing. I have to talk to our tollways to follow San Miguel's lead," Pangilinan said. He was referring to the NLEX Connector, an 8-kilometer all-elevated highway built along the right of way of the Philippine National Railway (PNR), extending the NLEX from the end of its Harbor Link Segment 10 in C3/5th Avenue, Caloocan City, to Ramon Magsaysay Avenue in Sta. Mesa, Manila. MPTC operates the NLEX, the NLEX Connector, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX). "I think we should," Pangilinan said when asked if he is open to following SMC's lead in waiving toll fees. "I think San Miguel has taken the lead there, and it was a good lead that they've done, and I think we should follow their example to help out in the traffic situation, I guess for the next two years or so," he added. This comes as Transportation Secretary Vivencio "Vince" Dizon said SMC will waive toll fees in select areas of the Skyway Stage 3 where vehicles will be detoured while the EDSA rehabilitation is ongoing, starting July or August. This will be implemented alongside a 24-hour odd-even number coding scheme limited to EDSA, with the dry run expected to start on June 16, and last for a month. The EDSA rehabilitation is projected to last until 2027, with the preparatory works set to begin on the evening of June 13, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The government is also looking at deploying an additional 100 buses along the EDSA Busway, and additional car train sets on the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) during the period. — VDV, GMA Integrated News