Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said there is a need to balance the interest of public and private sectors as it may affect future investors.

Roque made the statement after Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Monday suspended the business permit and operation of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) toll plazas within the jurisdiction.

Roque said they are not stopping Gatchalian from issuing or suspending business permits as it is his right under the Local Government Code.

“We are not in position to stop local government units in their jurisdiction to issue business permits because that is under the law, under the Local Government Code, and including on the concept of local autonomy that is part of our Constitution,” Roque said.

“But at the same time, we also need to balance this because projects like expressway are developed by private sectors… Future investors might be turned off if something like this happens,” he added.

Roque said the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) told operators and local government units to resolve their problems.

“The position of TRB is there is a need to have a change from our operators. They need to replace their old and defective sensors so that the flow of traffic will be smooth. They also need to relocate or reposition their RFID installations and reloading lanes. They also need to have maintenance improvement or upgrade their system software. They also need to enhance their public traffic management and they need to improve their customer service assistance,” he said.

“We adopt of course the recommendation of TRB,” he added.

Last Monday, Gatchalian personally served the suspension of business permit of the six toll gates under their jurisdiction after they NLEX management failed to improve their service, which according to the mayor is affecting their city. Ella Dionisio/DMS