Gov’t still considering MVP proposal for MRT

MANILA, Philippines—The government is not throwing out businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan’s $1.1-billion proposal to acquire the state’s holdings in Metro Rail Transit (MRT), despite the train line’s inclusion in the list of infrastructure projects to be put up for bidding.

Transportation Undersecretary Glicerio Sicat said the proposal of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and the bids from other groups would be deliberated at the same time.

“We will have a parallel run,” he said in an earlier interview.

“We will see which scheme will be best for the government,” he added.

The MRT capacity expansion is one of the five infrastructure projects that the government wants to bid out to companies under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

MPIC has proposed to buy the government’s minority stake in the MRT train line and to pay all of the system’s foreign debt amounting to $1.1 billion.

MPIC, which is chaired by Pangilinan, also offered to spend $300 million to double the train line’s capacity to 700,000 passengers a day to minimize congestion.

Conglomerates Ayala Corp. and San Miguel Corp. have also expressed interest in bidding for the contract to operate the MRT line, which spans 17 kilometers along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Metro Manila’s major thoroughfare.

“Please be advised that Ayala Corp. has expressed interest to explore various opportunities in the infrastructure sector… the MRT is one among other projects that the company is currently looking into,” the country’s oldest conglomerate said in a disclosure on Tuesday.

Sicat said the government would choose the proposal that would commit to complete the MRT’s capacity upgrade the fastest.

“The main criterion for the government is what will be the best for the riding public,” he said.