Tracking the journey of Phl rail PPPS

When Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) chief Manuel V. Pangilinan was asked whether his company would resubmit a bid to operate and maintain the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), his answer sent the Department of Transportation (DOTr) into a scramble.

- By ELIJAH FELICE ROSALES

The government has turned to multilateral lenders to improve the viability of the country's railways.

It was one thing for Pangilinan to say that MPIC — once among the most aggressive suitors for MRT-3 — was no longer interested in the project. It was quite another when he dropped a bombshell: MPIC, the biggest shareholder in the operator of another railway, Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), is planning to exit the rail business altogether.

For Pangilinan and MPIC investors, it is simple math. MPIC is losing billions, economic growth is slowing, and there's a strong case that tougher times lie ahead. As Pangilinan himself put it: “Why do we need this?”

And as much as it might be an isolated case, there really are points to be made as to whether rails should be handled by the private sector or kept in government hands.

LRT-1 operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), for one, has been struggling to obtain regulatory approval to increase fares every time it requests it, despite its concession permit allowing for rate adjustments once every two years.

Before the recent fare adjustment in April, LRMC had reported a deficit of P2.17 billion, tracing back to the petition denials it had suffered since 2016.

Despite this, LRMC has been delivering its obligations to the government, completing the first leg of the P64.9-billion LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project in 2024. It is working on advancing the second and third phases of the expansion.

It is also making life challenging for LRMC to grow revenue, as the LRT-1 remains far from recovering its pre-pandemic level of passenger traffic, which reached as high as 450,000 daily.