On September 5, Brian Poe, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to explore decreasing or completely removing terminal fees for Filipino travelers.

In his statement, Poe expressed: > “Every peso counts for our countrymen. If the government is already taking 82 percent of terminal fee revenues, then a portion of that should go back to the passengers through subsidies or reductions. That will be a direct relief to the Filipino people.”

He referred to recent explanations from acting transportation secretary Giovanni Lopez, noting that 82 percent of all terminal fee revenues flow directly to the national treasury, leaving just 18 percent for the concessionaire to manage operations.

Poe also highlighted the significant increase in terminal fees in recent years.
As of now, domestic terminal charges stand at PHP390, while international fees surged from PHP550 to PHP950.
In particular, the Batangas Port recently attempted to impose a hefty 233 percent fee increase but withdrew this following public backlash.

The lawmaker suggested that this scenario could allow Congress to create laws to redistribute some of these revenues as subsidies for passengers.
He stated: > “If that’s the case, then Congress can step in and mandate that part of that budget should go back to passengers. Instead of collecting it all in bulk, we can use a portion to subsidize terminal fees. That way, the benefits are felt directly by the Filipino people.”

He further emphasized that transportation is a basic need, urging, > “People already pay for so many things like food, fuel, and utilities. If we can remove or at least subsidize terminal fees, even just for domestic travel, it will already be a big help. The goal of modernization should be to make travel more convenient and accessible, not more costly.”