DOF mulls over selling Landbank, DBP shares in MRT-3

The Department of Finance (DOF) is studying the possibility of unloading the shares of state-run lenders Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines in Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 once issues plaguing the worn-out mass transport along Edsa are resolved.

“It’s a rather complicated deal because it involves selling the shares. First of all, it involves getting a new maintenance contractor and then going ahead with privatizing it or selling the enterprise,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters.

The government, through the DBP and the Landbank, holds about 77 percent of the “economic interest” or financial aspect of MRT-3. Its “legal interest” or voting right is equal to 20 percent.

But the Finance chief stressed “the real issue now is the riding public—people are still lining up for a long time to get in the train.”

“That’s the first priority—to get it (the MRT 3) working right,” he said.