The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it plans to roll out the bidding for the privatization of the operations and maintenance of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and Light Rail Transit Line 2 by the second half of 2024.
DOTr Undersecretary for planning and project Timothy John Batan said the agency “will act within the month” on the pending proposals from San Miguel Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. to rehabilitate and operate and maintain the MRT3.
“Especially now that the new PPP code has come out, as well as the interim guidelines… We will be writing not just to the MRT 3 unsolicited proposals, but to all proponents of unsolicited proposals that we have,” he said.
Batan said the direction of the government was to bid out the MRT 3 through solicited Public Private Partnership, adding that it would be bundled with LRT Line 2.
He said the DOTr tapped the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for MRT 3 and International Finance Corp. (IFC) for LRT Line 2 O&M privatization.
“They will be working together, and they will give us joint recommendations on how to implement the bundling on the LRT Line 2 and MRT 3 PPP Project,” Batan said.
Batan said the DOTr was aiming to issue the invitation to bid for the project by the second half of 2024. The build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement between the government and Metro Rail Transit Corp. for MRT-3 would lapse by 2025.
The government operates MRT Line 3, while 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 its full operations in July 2020.
The MRTC and the government signed the BLT agreement in 1997 to construct and maintain MRT-3.