The Valenzuela City government will reinstate the business permit of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. if the toll operator will remove all barriers in its toll plazas passing through the city, according to mayor Rex Gatchalian.

Gatchalian and NLEx officials are set to meet at the Metro Manila Development Authority headquarters in Makati this Monday morning to discuss how to solve the traffic snarls resulting from the implementation of the cashless collection system at the NLEX. The cashless collection system, which the Department of Transportation (DOTR) required for motorists using the expressways, uses the radio-frequency identification (RFID) system.

“Kumbaga, nailabas na natin sila sa impyerno, ayaw ko na ibalik sila ulit sa impyerno kaya ang sinasabi ko sa NLEX, buksan nyo ‘yung barrier, maningil na lang kayo nang walang barrier (What I want to state is we were able to get motorists out of hell, and I don’t want them to be back there again, so I told NLEX to open the barriers and that they collect tolls without the barriers),” Gatchalian said.

Also under fire from the issue is the Toll Regulatory Board, an agency under the DOTR, that Senator Grace Poe said was sleeping on the job as evidenced by the traffic snarls at expressway tollgates.

Poe has called on a Senate inquiry on the issue that will commence on Thursday. CURRENTPH