The proposal of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) to take over the operations and maintenance of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 may be at peril after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) disclosed that San Miguel Corp. has secured an original proponent status (OPS) for the rail line.
“We received it and we are processing it according to BOT Law implementing rules and regulations. We just know that San Miguel secured an OPS from the previous administration in early 2022,” Timothy John Batan, undersecretary for planning and project at the Development of Transportation (DOTr), said.
The OPS gives San Miguel competitive advantage over competitors during the competitive Swiss Challenge phase of the project.
Batan said the agency is coordinating with the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center on how to properly address the two proposals.
“There are rules on how to handle multiple unsolicited proposals, We are just confirming with the PPP Center for proper disposition,” he said.
“We’re just making sure that we address it in accordance with the rules. By next week, we will finalize our way forward,” Batan added.
Also, San Miguel’s unsolicited offer has not yet been endorsed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The MPIC, via the Light Rail Manila Corp., operates LRT Line 1 while San Miguel is building MRT Line 7 that goes all the way to Bulacan.
As government evaluates the competing conglomerate proposals, Batan said the agency will engage the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corp. (IFC) for the solicited bid of MRT3 and LRT Line 2 as a bundle.
“We will process solicited bids for MRT3 and LRT2 as if there were no unsolicited proposals and we will process the unsolicited proposals as if there were no solicited bids,” Batan stressed.
Thereafter, both the solicited and unsolicited proposal are elevated to the NEDA Board to decide which option will be pursued.
The agency has long eyed the privatization of the rail lines’ O&M as a bundle by early 2025.
The build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement the government signed with MRTC for MRT3 will lapse in 2025.
The government operates MRT3 while MRTC, owned by Metro Rail Transit Holdings Inc. led by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña, designed and constructed the EDSA rail transit line.
Formed in 1995, MRTC started building MRT 3 in October 1996, completed it in December 1999 and started full operations in July 2020.
MRTC and the government through then the Department of Transportation and Communications signed the BLT agreement in 1997 to construct and maintain MRT 3.
MRTC financed the construction of the line stretching from North Ave. in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City. The company spent P4.49 billion as equity in the project.
The train system is designed to carry in excess of 23,000 passengers per hour per direction initially but expandable to 48,000 passengers per hour per direction.
