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Friday, March 29, 2024

Court won’t stop train purchase

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The Court of Appeals has not stopped the Department of Transportation and Communications  from proceeding with the purchase of 48 new light rail vehicles for MRT 3 worth P3.8 billion from a Chinese supplier.

This came after the CA’s Fourteenth Division through Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy junked the appeal of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation  and MRT Holdings II seeking to restrain the DOTC from awarding the contract for the manufacture and supply of new LRVs to Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock of China.

In a six-page resolution, the appellate court upheld its July 31, 2014 resolution denying the plea of MRTC and MRT Holdings II to restrain the government from proceeding with the purchase of the new LRVs purportedly to upgrade the operation of MRT 3 system.

The CA was not convinced with the claim of MRTC that the purchase of LRVs from Dalian Locomotive could increase risks of train collisions and cause huge damage to MRT3 system.

MRTC entered into a build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement with the DOTC in 1997 to construct and maintain a light rail transit system for EDSA, eventually known as MRT 3.

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The CA found the warning made by the petitioners as “speculative.”

The CA stressed that the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction will dispose of the case on the merits as it would effectively enjoin the procurement of additional LRVs without the benefit of a full-blown proceeding.

“The issuance of the writ of preliminary injunction had the effect of granting the main prayer of the complaint such that there is practically nothing left for the court to try except the plaintiff’s claim for damages,” the appellate court said.

In its petition for the issuance of a TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction, the MRT 3 owners said the DOTC undertook the procurement through public bidding of additional LRVs for the Edsa railway system, without its consent or waiver of its right of first refusal in violation of their BLT agreement.

The petitioners insisted that its right for capacity expansion of MRT 3 under the BLT is  “clear and unmistakable” and that the recent opinion issued by the Department of Justice declaring its right of first refusal to be void was obviously given to justify DOTC’s actions.

The petitioners said that the DOTC’s procurement of LRVs from Dalian deviates from the principle of having a single point of responsibility which underlays the construction, operation and maintenance of MRT 3.

Because of this, the petitioners warned that if the new LRVs are allowed to run without the necessary adjustment and upgrade to the system, the riding public would be exposed to high risks of train collisions and loss of lives.

The appellate court said the case is now deemed submitted for decision following the submission of the parties’ respective memoranda.

Meanwhile, Catholic Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iniguez  called on the DOTC to provide the public with quality transport service.

The bishop made the challenge after MRT operations were reduced to only 10 trains out of its regular fleet of 20 because the air-conditioning units  conked out. With Sara Fabunan

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