Business Mirror By Lorenz S. Marasigan - June 14, 2018

MRT Holdings Inc. (MRTH) Chairman Robert John L. Sobrepeña is supportive of the government’s plan of bringing in Sumitomo Corp.—the contractor for the construction of the railway line and its maintenance provider until 2012—into the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT).

“Sumitomo is the right company to rehabilitate and maintain the MRT. They built the train and maintained it for 12 years,” Sobrepeña said. “They have the correct expertise.”


The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans to tap the Japanese company for the midterm upkeep of the train line, a deal part of the official development assistance package the Philippines is trying to secure from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.


This is similar to the proposal of MRT Corp. (MRTC), controlled by MRTH, for the rehabilitation, maintenance and expansion of the railway line, Sobrepeña said.


Under its $800-million three-phased proposal, the private sector will start fixing the train line’s immediate problems, namely the system’s dilapidated rails, outdated signaling system and its failing train cars.


The next phase involves the upgrade of the whole system, which costs about $400 million. It involves the replacement of all elevators, escalators and the makeover of the stations.


Also, the plan is for the private company to buy 48 new cars to double the line’s capacity to between 1 million and 1.2 million passengers daily. The third phase involves the linking of the MRT to the Light Rail Transit Line 1’s Monumento Station.


“We are not privy to the current negotiations that the DOTr has with others but I commend the DOTr in considering Sumitomo for the rehab of the MRT. In fact in our proposal, Sumitomo would be paid directly by the DOTr. MRTC would have no profit. We simply want to finally fix the MRT, to make sure that the riding public is safe,” Sobrepeña said.


Sobrepeña noted the return of Sumitomo was in the proposal that MRTC submitted as far back as 2014, and then again in 2016 directly to Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade.


“Our proposal was actually made by Sumitomo as our contractor,” Sobrepeña said. “I still maintain that the MRTC proposal with Sumitomo is the most beneficial, most cost-effective and the proposal that can be implemented fastest for the immediate convenience and safety of the riding public.” Wednesday saw the transportation department issuing an eight-page statement listing why it rejected the proposal of Sobrepeña’s group.