When DOTr Secretary Art Tugade talked about “revisiting” the PPP approach to infra projects, I should have been alarmed. I should have remembered Mar Roxas also made this “revisiting” remark a few weeks after he took over DOTC. Mar eventually turned around from a PPP approach to ODA financing of the big ticket projects in his area.

That was the beginning of the end. They needed new studies and terms of reference for the public bidding. And Mar’s team of lawyers, pretending they were engineers, clumsily tried writing rather technical TORs.

They didn’t get much done until the end of their term. I am so worried Tugade’s watch at DOTr will end up like Mar’s and Jun Abaya’s watch at DOTC.

 One more thing Mar and Jun did was to declare that they are against unsolicited proposals. That’s why MPIC’s proposal to build that connector road between NLEX and SLEX over the PNR right of way slept through most of the Aquino watch. It was finally awarded to MPIC after a Swiss Challenge towards the tail end of the Aquino term.

So that when Tugade and his DOTr team also said they were not too enthusiastic about unsolicited proposals, I had this instant replay in my mind about Mar and Jun. Sec. Art Tugade initially said he welcomed unsolicited proposals. I wonder what turned him around.

A few things are bothering me with the way things seem to be moving, or not moving, at DOTr.  They seem to be thinking exclusively of big projects, given the large amounts of ODA being offered by China and Japan.

Yes, we need those big projects. If I chance upon a magical genie from an ancient lamp, my first wish will be for a subway system that will rival Singapore’s.

Secondly, I will wish for a high speed train that will cover the one thousand kilometers between Laoag and Matnog Sorsogon in a little over three hours. That’s not impossible. I once rode a Chinese high speed train that covered a distance of about 800 kilometers in three hours with two or three brief stops along the way.

Thirdly, I will wish for infrastructure officials who can also see the value of less ambitious projects of high value to ordinary people’s daily lives.

Unfortunately, there are no magical genies in this world… and that rules out wish number one and wish number two. Those are long gestation projects which should be done but are not expected to benefit the here and now.

The third wish can be granted by an ordinary mortal running the transport department. Let us take my favorite example: LRT-2 extension to Masinag.

In the powerpoint presentation of Sec. Tugade at the DuterteNomics launch, I am shocked to find out that this four kilometer extension will be completed in 2019 yet. 

According to Lito Madrasto who monitored DOTC for the constructors group, they proposed in June 2010 that LRT-2 extension be bid out as PPP asap. It could have been up and running by end 2011 at only a cost of P6 billion. DOTr now says it carries a price tag of P10 billion.

It was a simple four km extension of an existing line that should have been completed last year when the superstructure was completed. The completed but idle superstructure is an embarrassing reminder of government ineptitude in project management.

I know Jun Abaya is to blame for chop-chopping the contracts and forgetting to bid everything out in a timely manner. People have suffered horrendous traffic jams during its construction, a situation that elicited Jun Abaya’s most memorable observation: hindi naman fatal ang traffic.

So, to those using the Marcos Highway, two more years of suffering for you guys!

The other low hanging fruit I see has to do with expanding PAL’s space at NAIA. Last October, I had this conversation with Jimmy Bautista, PAL’s president. I complained about the crowded conditions at Terminal 2 and he agreed something ought to be done.

Jimmy said they are thinking of asking government to allow them to connect Terminal 1 with Terminal 2 with a bridge or a train system we see in many airports abroad. He said that Terminal 1 is not as crowded anymore, which is why they unload their trans-Pacific passengers there.

 It is a quick solution that demands immediate implementation. Jimmy said PAL will finance the cost so no government funds will be needed. But to me, the real solution is a new terminal where the abandoned Philippine Village Hotel is now located. Such a terminal can be connected to Terminal 2.

In fact, I am told by aviation people that they are running out of parking space for the airplanes at NAIA. The two main domestic carriers, PAL and Cebu Pacific, have been buying new planes aggressively. PAL alone may have almost a hundred planes in its fleet soon.

 It is time for PAL and DOTr officials to sit down and agree to do something. Regardless of government’s eventual plans for NAIA, alleviating congestion at NAIA right now should be top priority.

LRT 1

 In the meantime, there is some good news from Babes Singson who is now running LRT1 for the MPIC-Ayala consortium.

They will have the groundbreaking of the Cavite Extension on May 4 at the Dr Santos Station/Sucat. The right-of-way for Package 1 which is from Baclaran to Dr Santos has all been expropriated. About 80 percent of the right of way of Phase 2 and 3 to Niyog/Bacoor has been expropriated.

Sec. Babes also told me they already have an engineering, procurement and construction or EPC contractor which is Bouygues/Alstom. They expect civil works completion by end of 2020. The initial delivery of JICA trains is expected by end of 2020 and full delivery mid 2021.

A hybrid PPP project, the total cost of Cavite Extension is about P24 billion.

 Regarding the rolling stock to be supplied by government to LRT Line1, the procurement under a JICA loan is still on-going. The first bidding failed because the JICA loan imposed a 70 per cent Japanese content on the loan and no Japanese supplier was available because their capacities are committed to requirements of the Tokyo Olympics.

So JICA had to rebid and reduce the Japanese content to 30 per cent. The bid opening for this second bidding is on May 2. But yes the Grantors/DOTr/LRTA should deliver the new trains by 2020 otherwise there will be penalties.

Because of the delay in the full delivery of the new trains which was suppose to be this year, 2017, private sector led LRMC had to change fleet strategy to provide commuters better service by rehab/repair of old trains and extend their useful life by 10 years. Fortunately, Sec Babes said, they have succeeded in increasing available LRVs from 77 to 100 by Dec 2016.

I can’t believe this extension is finally going to happen. They first tried to extend LRT 1 in the 90s and failed. Now, at last…

Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/04/28/1694496/low-hanging-fruits