Gov’t to take over MRT in 2015

MANILA, Philippines - The government intends to take over the breakdown-prone Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line along EDSA in 2015, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, House appropriations committee chairman, said yesterday.

He made the statement at the start of plenary debates on the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for next year.

Responding to questions raised by Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Ungab said the budget proposal includes P54 billion for the state’s “equity value buyout” of MRT from its owners.

Ungab said the government wants to take over the EDSA rail line so it can solve the problems plaguing it without interference from its owners.

He said two state banks – Land Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines – own 80 percent of the facility, with the remaining 20 percent is held by private investors.

He added that the two bank’s exposure in the rail line is worth P35 billion.

Ungab pointed out that under special provisions in the proposed 2015 budget, the P54 billion would be released only if the arbitration case between the government and MRT’s private owners in Singapore is finally resolved.

Colmenares asked if the P54 billion would go to the two government banks and the private owners, or to the latter only.

“If the two state banks’ 80-percent ownership of MRT is worth P35 billion, why would taxpayers pay P54 billion for the private owners’ 20 percent? Besides, the rail line, according to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), was built for a total of only P28 billion,” he said.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima later told reporters that the P54 billion is allocated for the entire facility.

The frequent MRT breakdowns prompted Rep. Anthony Bravo of Cooperatives Network Party to urge DOTC officials to come up with “real solutions” to the facility’s problems, instead of doing things “that are just for show.”

“Just like the DOTC secretary’s act of riding the MRT, the DOTC’s response to the MRT has been shallow at best, pointless at worst,” he said.

Bravo singled out DOTC’s announcement last week that it had created a “special group” to supervise MRT maintenance and “shadow” the work of APT Global, its current maintenance provider.

“While it’s true that there has been a number of well-publicized incidents at the MRT, a cursory look at the data will show that current maintenance provider, when compared to previous service providers, has had the least number of train removals, and hence, the most number of available trains,” he said.

He said DOTC data show that peak-hour train availability has been highest under Global APT.

Given the data, he said the DOTC “should know that the quality of maintenance services being provided is not the issue, especially when you consider the age of the trains, and particularly because even President Aquino has pointed out the culprit behind all these glitches: the non-overhaul of the system.”

He quoted Aquino as saying last Friday: “Let us look into the root of the problems in the MRT. It was built in 1999. A general overhaul should have been undertaken every eight years to ensure the system runs smoothly. In 2006, only a slight overhaul took place.”