Newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday vowed to pursue the privatization of critical transport infrastructure, which is key toward enhancing the efficiency of the country’s transportation system.
In a statement following the official turnover of the leadership at the DOTr, Dizon cited two projects that are up for privatization: the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the EDSA Busway and the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3).
Dizon said a feasibility study for the privatization of the EDSA Busway may be completed in a few months and is expected to be awarded by the end of 2026.
He said the MRT-3’s terms of reference (TOR) for both its solicited and unsolicited proposals are being ironed out by the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, Asian Development Bank, and DOTr.
Dizon emphasized that the privatization of projects in road transport and railway infrastructure will be crucial in ensuring the efficiency of services for commuters.
“This is critical [privatization of transport projects] because I think that is the way to go. Secretary (Jaime Bautista) can be assured that we will push that forward because that’s really to my mind and especially to the mind of our President the way to go to make transport services more efficient,” Dizon said.
He gave credit to his predecessor for launching a “massive privatization” of several projects, including the modernization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as well as two regional airports such as the Laguindingan Airport, and Bohol-Panglao International Airport.
The DOTr has not released the value of the MRT-3 contract as reported on January 21 by Malaya Business Insight quoting Timothy John Batan, transportation undersecretary for planning and project development.
On January 10, Malaya Business Insight quoted Bautista as saying the DOTr was on track to start the privatization of the EDSA Busway System in the second quarter of the year.
In a separate statement on Monday, DOTr said big-ticket projects will be expedited without undue disruption.
Among these big-ticket projects. are the North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway, regional airports, EDSA Busway, and EDSA Greenways Project.
