DOTC urges MRT Holdings: Don’t stop gov’t from buying new trains

A day after President Benigno Aquino III blamed the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) for the deteriorating state of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) in his last State of the Nation Address, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Tuesday urged MRT Holdings Inc. (MRTH) to drop its bid to stop the government from purchasing new train coaches.

MRTH used to manage the affairs of MRTC, MRT 3’s contractual owner and now its controlling shareholder, according to the DOTC.

Echoing Aquino, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said there should be no more delays in the addition of new trains in the system.

“MRTH’s case against DOTC is a case against new trains. It is a case against the public. So we are fighting this case for the public interest,” Abaya said in a statement.

“The riding public deserves a much better MRT 3 than what the private owner is providing. That is why we exercised political will to add new train cars ourselves. Not only did MRTH fail to add them, they even filed a case to stop us when we did,” he added.

In his Sona, Aquino said MRTC obtained a temporary restraining order to stop the government’s procurement of new MRT coaches, adding that there should have been a “general overhaul” of the rail system in 2008 but “only token cosmetic changes were undertaken” according to DOTC.

“This lack of care practically guaranteed the breakdown of our trains. Is it not in the interest of all companies to make sure that they get their money’s worth from their investment?” Aquino said. “Yet, they allowed the situation to deteriorate, to the point where, at very short notice, they just passed the job of improving the MRT onto us.”

DOTC said the Makati Regional Trial Court initially issued the TRO but ruled against MRTH as “public interest must prevail in this case” aside from “the fact that only the Supreme Court may enjoin such a project.”

The department said the case is currently pending before the Court of Appeals as MRTH awaits the appellate court’s decision on its motion for reconsideration after being initially denied.

“With the public clamoring for new trains, and MRTH being a private company, the government has been vocal in defending the rights of the riding public,” DOTC added.

A 25-year build-lease-transfer contract between DOTC and the Sobrepeña-owned MRTC paved the way for MRT 3 to become fully operational in 2008.