METRO PACIFIC Investments Corp. (MPIC) has submitted a revised proposal to the government to expand the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) line, an official said late last week.
“We just gave it (amended proposal) to them (Department of Transportation and Communications, or DoTC) yesterday,” MPIC Chief Executive Jose Mari K. Lim told reporters on Thursday.
“It’s an unsolicited proposal, so it has different legal framework. In the first proposal, it is an assumption of the existing contract. We will take over the company (Metro Rail Transit Corp., or MRTC) and expand it…” he added, hinting the new proposal entailed a new concession agreement altogether.
“Under the new proposal, the [DoTC] will give us a new concession overlaying [sic] the existing contracts.”
Mr. Lim added that MPIC will be undertaking the project “with Ayala” Corp. The two conglomerates in May signed a memorandum of agreement “to form an exclusive strategic partnership to jointly pursue and develop light rail projects in the greater Metro Manila area.”
DoTC Undersecretary for Legal Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla yesterday confirmed that MPIC submitted a revised proposal for MRT-3. “[I] just received it. [I’m] still going though it,” Mr. Lotilla said in a text message.
MPIC last year submitted a $300-million bid to expand the operations of the 16.95-kilometer railway that runs along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Manila.
MPIC’s plan was aimed at doubling the railway’s capacity to 700,000 passengers per day by acquiring 73 new trains and signaling equipment, DoTC had said last year.
MRT-3 currently transports an average of 500,000 passengers per day, well beyond its capacity of 350,000, according to the Light Rail Transit Authority.
Asked if the new proposal includes linking the MRT-3 line to the Light Rail Transit Line 1, Mr. Lim replied, “It is not specifically emphasized in this one (new proposal), but the intention is to integrate it.”
MPIC had also offered to buy out the government’s stake in the venture for $350 million and run the MRT-3 for 30 years. The government, through Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, owns 22.3% direct stake in MRTC, which owns MRT-3. In 2010, MPIC acquired the 29% stake of Fil-Estate Corp. in the railway firm.
Last June, outgoing Transportation Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II said that the Office of the Solicitor General was still studying the ownership structure of MRT-3 as the department wanted to clarify this issue before entertaining any proposal for the railway’s upgrading or expansion.
MPIC projects core net income to hit P6.3 billion this year, 26% more than the P5 billion earned last year. Core net income jumped 30.08% to P3.46 billion in the first half from P2.66 billion last year.
Shares of MPIC rose four centavos or 0.97% to P4.17 apiece when the stock market closed on Friday.
MPIC is the local unit of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., which partly owns Philippine Long Disance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.
***
Source: C. H. C. Venzon, BusinessWorld. (2 September 2012)
Comment here