President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has warned officials of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) that he would carry out a revamp if there will be another glitch following a public backlash on the implementation of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) system.
“Ito may system but actually it’s flawed, and the people behind this are really incompetent,” President Duterte said in a televised public address Wednesday night, expressing dismay over the chaotic implementation of the RFID system.

RFID system is an ID system using wireless communication that enables data transfer between RF tags and antenna.

Toll regulators should have conducted a trial run first and anticipated possible problems that might occur, according to the President.

The issuance of RFID tags in the tollways has created monstrous traffic jams, exacerbating the misery of the commuters and motorists, he said.

“And on the day of the implementation, anak ka ng p***. Saan ka makakita doon pa ilagay ‘yung mga sticker while the traffic — the queuing was almost also exponential? Hanggang puwet na. Dumating na sa Maynila.”

The Chief Executive asked Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to call the attention of the TRB to address the problem.

The DOTr has accelerated the adoption of cashless toll payment system after 270 employees at the tollgates contracted COVID-19, Tugade said.

“Kasi it was not only our desire to have a good flow of traffic in the tollways, it was our desire also to minimize the spread of COVID. Iyon po ang nagtulak sa amin,” he told President Duterte. PND