Metro Pacific Investments Corp. submitted a new proposal to take over Metro Rail Transit Line 3, but the Transportation Department is not too keen about it, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said.
Abaya told reporters the agency had yet to fully review the proposal. He said the agency was not too keen on unsolicited proposals.
“We [are] still studying, but for me honestly, we have seen we are much better off for [an] open transparent and competitive bid. I think this is an MPIC proposal. They submitted last week,” Abaya said.
He said an open bidding would address concerns about shady deals that were disadvantageous to the government.
Abaya said the legal department of the agency would study the revised proposal thoroughly. He did not specify the details of the proposal, because of possible confidentiality issues.
The Transportation Department previously rejected the offer of MPIC to take over and expand MRT Line 3.
Transportation Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla told reporters earlier the agency sent a letter informing MPIC about the government’s final decision.
“We’re not accepting [their proposal]. The problem [is] they are explaining only half of the story. They are saying they want to upgrade the system, but actually, they will require us to pay a guaranteed fare. They have proposed a tariff or fare…and then of course to lengthen the period of the concession by additional 15 years,” Lotilla said.
Abaya earlier said the government was not amenable to the $300-million offer of MPIC.
MPIC early this year asked the government to reconsider the equity buyout of Metro Rail Transit Corp., which operates MRT Line 3, and instead allow the conglomerate to take over and expand the 17-kilometer mass transit line.