Ex-DPWH head Singson takes over LRT-1 operator

Former DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson has rejoined the private sector as CEO of the LIght Rail Manila Corp., which operates the LRT 1 line. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Rogelio Singson, who served as secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways during the Aquino administration, has returned to the private sector.

Singson said in a text message Thursday that he had been tapped to run Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), which operates the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) in Metro Manila.

Singson, who led the DPWH from 2010 to 2016, is credited for reforms in the agency, cutting down bureaucratic processes and corruption. Last year, President Aquino hailed Singson and the DPWH as a “model” for good public governance.

The DPWH is now led by Mark Villar.

Singson assumed the top LRMC post last month, a spokesman said. The company was previously led by its CEO Jesus P. Francisco.

Light Rail Manila is controlled by Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp.

The company assumed operations of the LRT-1 after bagging in 2014 a P65-billion public private partnerships deal to extend the railway line 11.7-kilometers to Bacoor, Cavite, by 2020. The LRT-1 currently runs from Baclaran in Pasay to Roosevelt in Quezon City.

LRT-1, the oldest of three elevated trains serving Metro Manila, has an average daily ridership of about 400,000 commuters.

The extended rail line is expected to help increase the capacity of LRT 1 by 500,000 to 800,000 passengers daily and benefit more than four million residents in the southern part of Metro Manila and Cavite.

Before joining the DWPH, Singson was president of Maynilad Water Services Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific. CBB