PALACE ANNOUNCES FREE TOLL IN SELECT NLEX AREAS STARTING SEPT. 2

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday announced free toll passage for all vehicles along selected portions of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to assist motorists affected by heavy traffic caused by flooding in Pampanga following the onslaught of recent storms and the southwest monsoon or habagat.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the toll waiver is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to assist motorists and passengers caught in heavy traffic due to flooding at the Tulaoc Bridge in San Simon, Pampanga.

Castro said Transportation Acting Secretary Giovanni “Banoy” Lopez announced that all vehicles traveling between Pulilan, Bulacan, and San Fernando, Pampanga, and vice versa will be exempted from paying toll fees starting Wednesday.

“Magpapatuloy ang libreng toll fee hanggang sa bumalik sa normal ang sitwasyon sa NLEX,” Castro said during a Palace press briefing.

Castro said she would ask Lopez about the possibility of expanding the coverage of the free toll arrangement to accommodate motorists traveling from other areas.

Accordingly, the Transportation Secretary thanked toll operators for continuing to provide free toll passage to provincial buses and vehicles transporting agricultural products under the administration’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) initiative.

Meanwhile, Castro said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) directed NLEX Corporation to provide food and drinking water to motorists stranded in heavy traffic.

NLEX Corporation was also instructed to set up portable toilets for affected motorists.