The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will consult the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board whether or not it should pursue the unsolicited proposals submitted by conglomerates San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) for the operation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3).
Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for planning, said the DOTr has received MPIC’s unsolicited proposal and it will have to consult the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center as the DOTr, under the previous administration, awarded the original proponent status (OPS) for the operation and maintenance of MRT-3 to SMC in early 2022.
When asked if the OPS of SMC should be set aside since it was granted during the previous administration, Batan said: “That is what we are confirming (with PPP Center). We are just making sure that we address it in accordance with rules.”
“We have consulted with them on the proper disposition, there are rules on how to address it. We’ll address it according to the rules,” he added.
Aside from the pending unsolicited proposals, DOTr intends to conduct a solicited bidding for the MRT-3 and bundle it with the Light Rail Transit line 2 (LRT-2).
DOTr is working with the Asian Development Bank for the MRT-3 and the International Finance Corp. of the World Bank for the LRT-2 for the bundled solicited bidding, which is expected to start by the second quarter of 2024.
Batan said DOTr will ask the NEDA Board whether or not it will pursue the unsolicited bid or the solicited bid for MRT-3. Earlier, DOTr also consulted with the NEDA Board for Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (NAIA) privatization.
“Remember what we did for NAIA, we process the unsolicited as if there was no solicited and we process the solicited as if there was no unsolicited. Then we elevate them both to ICC (Investment Coordination Committee) and to NEDA Board, then the decision on how to move forward will be made,” Batan explained.
DOTr plans to bundle the bidding for the operation and maintenance of MRT-3 and LRT-2 in the second quarter of next year, as the build-lease-transfer contract between the government and private stakeholder Metro Rail Transit Corp. will end by 2025.
The DOTr is looking at transferring the operation of MRT-3 to state-run Light Rail Transit Authority, which operates LRT-2, then bid out to the private sector the operation and maintenance of the two rail systems as a bundle.
MPIC, through Light Rail Manila Corp., currently operates LRT-1.
SMC is the operator of MRT-7, which is targeted to start partial operations by 2025.
