The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is likely to auction off the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 after the government received unsolicited proposals from two conglomerates.
“Most probably our direction is solicited [bid] because there are two proposals. Normally, if there are more than one unsolicited proposal, we are studying to make it solicited instead of unsolicited,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
“We have engaged ADB [Asian Development Bank] to help us refine the terms of reference,”
The DOTr, under the Duterte administration, earlier granted San Miguel Corp. an original proponent status (OPS) to operate and maintain the MRT3 system. An OPS gives a company a competitive advantage during the Swiss Challenge for the project.
Rival Metro Pacific Investments Corp., on the other hand, submitted a new proposal to the Marcos administration for MRT3 O&M.
MPIC, through unit Light Rail Manila Corp., operates the LRT Line 1, while San Miguel is building the MRT Line 7.
San Miguel president Ramon Ang, however, is now a board director of MPIC after investing in the Manuel Pangilinan-led infrastructure firm on a personal capacity.
The DOTr earlier said that it was eyeing to privatize the O&M of MRT 3 and Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 as a bundle by early 2025.
The build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement between the government and private company Metro Rail Transit Corp. for MRT3 is set to lapse by 2025. The government operates the MRT3, while the MRTC, owned by Metro Rail Transit Holdings II Inc. led by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña, is responsible for the design and construction of the EDSA rail transit system.
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 the former Department of Transportation and Communications signed the BLT agreement in 1997 to construct and maintain MRT 3.
MRTC financed the construction of the modern rail system stretching along EDSA’s 16.9-kilometer stretch from North Ave. in Quezon City to Taft Ave. in Pasay City. The company infused P4.49 billion worth of equity into the project.
The train system is designed to carry in excess of 23,000 passengers per hour per direction, initially, and was expandable to accommodate 48,000 passengers per hour, per direction.
