Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is keen to partner with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to jointly bid for the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) by the second half of the year.
The conglomerates have submitted unsolicited proposalsto the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in the last two years, but the government opted to undertake solicited bids, setting aside their proposals.
Manuel Pangilinan, MPIC chairman, said the company will likely participate in the bidding, depending on the bid terms.
“We probably would participate in that. I guess it depends eventually on the terms of reference for the bid that the government will draft. In principle, because we submitted an unsolicited proposal and the government has decided to bid it out, we will likely participate depending on the terms,” Pangilinan said on the sidelines of the PLDT Global and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s event yesterday in Makati.
When asked if MPIC is considering partnering with SMC for the MRT-3 bidding, Pangilinan said: “I think it might be good for us to reach out to SMC and see what we can do. Joint bid instead, right? There are ongoing discussions in other areas with them, partnerships.”
MPIC and SMC commenced last year their discussion to form a joint venture company that will further expand their synergies in the tollways business.
Last August, the two ended their rivalry in the tollways business when they sealed an agreement to jointly construct and operate the P72-billion two major expressway projects that will connect Cavite and Batangas.
Meanwhile, the DOTr recently said it targets to open the bidding for the operation and maintenance of MRT-3 within the second half of the year.

Jaime Bautista, DOTr secretary, said they are working on the terms of reference for the MRT-3 bidding as the government’s 25-year build-lease-transfer contract with private consortium Metro Rail Transit Corp. is set to end in July 2025.
The DOTr is also considering bundling the bidding of MRT-3 and Light Rail Transit line 2 to have one operator for both rail systems.
The Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corp. are working together to come up with a joint recommendation for bundling the rail systems.
Last year, MRT-3’s ridership surged 30 percent to 129 million from 98.3 million passengers in 2022 as more passengers returned to on-site work.
Average daily ridership also increased by more than 30 percent in 2023 to 357,198 from the previous year’s 273,141, while the highest single-day ridership was recorded on August 22 with a total of 450,298 passengers.