Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is withdrawing its proposal to take over the maintenance and operation of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3).
MPIC has aggressively pursued the MRT-3 project for over a decade, but the transportation agency recently rejected its unsolicited proposal which prompted the company to officially end plans to pursue the project.
Manuel Pangilinan, MPIC chairman, told reporters the conglomerate is no longer interested in the MRT-3 project and is not keen to participate even if government opens the bidding to the private sector.
“We don’t care about (the project). We will not join (the bidding),” Pangilinan said in Filipino at the inspection ceremony for MPIC’s toll road project recently .
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) recently returned MPIC’s P20-billion unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the MRT-3.
In 2017, DOTr awarded the original proponent status to the joint venture of MPIC and Ayala Corp. for the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of MRT-3 for a 30-year concession period.
In response, Arthur Tugade, transportation secretary, said the government still plans to privatize the MRT-3 but it has no definite decision yet whether this undertaking will be open for bidding or to unsolicited or solicited proposals.
At present, DOTr is on track to complete the MRT-3’s rehabilitation by July 2021 that will increase the train capacity and operating speed.
By then, MRT-3 will have more operating trains, from 15 train sets during peak hours to 20, increasing the train capacity from the current 300,000 passengers per day to 600,000.
The train speed is also expected to double from 30 kilometers per hour to 60 kph, reducing by half the waiting time from 7-10 minutes to just 3.5 minutes.
Sumitomo Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its subsidiary TES Philippines were awarded the rehabilitation and maintenance contract for the rail system covering a period of 43 month
