DOTr, NEDA: MRT-3 Rehabilitation to Push Through This Year

Good news to all motorists who use the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) to commute daily: The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) stated that the PHP22.061 billion allotted for the said project will be implemented near the end of 2018 and continue until next year.

“It is set to start implementation in the third quarter of 2018 and be completed in the first quarter of 2021,” said NEDA.

The project will be mostly financed by a loan from Sumitomo Corp. of Japan. According to the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee, they will sign the deal “by the end of August; if not mid-September.”

“Dokumento na lang po ang ginagawa (The contract is being finalized),” said Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade. He also added that the MRT 3’s rehabilitation can be completed in “32-34 months.”

According to the secretary, the entire railway, coaches, and everything else will be repaired once the MRT-3 rehabilitation pushes through. This move will also make its operations more efficient.

“The project will increase the number of train sets in operation to 18 from 15 per hour and enable them to reach a maximum speed to 60 kilometers per hour, among other performance criteria,” he explained.

NEDA Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Prenia added:

“With the upcoming rehabilitation of the MRT 3, we expect improvements in service efficiency and security of the existing train line,” he said. “Over the long term, we envision the MRT to be a very convenient and efficient mode of transportation that will encourage car owners to shift to public transportation, thereby reducing traffic congestion in Metro Manila.”

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/dotr-neda-mrt-3-rehabilitation-080043379.html

DOTr vows to improve airports ops nationwide

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has vowed to implement a roadmap that will improve the operations of airports in the country after a Xiamen Air jet skidded off the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Thursday night resulting in thousands of stranded passengers due to delayed flights.

In a statement Tuesday, the DOTr said it is improving the facilities and structures of existing gateways, such as NAIA Terminals 1-4 and building alternative airports, such as Sangley and Bulacan to decongest NAIA.

It will also be establishing air traffic control and management systems.

Meanwhile, the DOTr reiterated that safety protocols were implemented in removing the aircraft, noting that the NAIA management took several hours to remove the aircraft due to its massive weight and highly-combustible material that might cause fire or explosions.

“Recovering a disabled aircraft is far different from towing a bus or a car. There are technical protocols (ICAO standards) and intervening factors that all international airports observe in recovering a disabled aircraft,” the DOTr said.

“In the case of the recent Xiamen incident, please note that in addition to its size and weight, there were also four tons of unused fuel at the wings that are highly combustible, necessitating extra care to avoid fire or explosion. Apart from passengers, we also think about the safety of the rescuers. One false move, the plane might explode,” it added.

A high capacity telescopic crane was also deployed to lift the plane as it landed on a muddy terrain amid heavy rains and strong winds.

The DOTr said the incident will serve as a reminder to review the Air Passenger Bill of Rights and intervention measures between the airlines and airport management, assess equipment inventory and improve the training modules at airports in cases of emergencies.

The DOTr also appealed for the understanding of the public as it moves to resolve the issue.

“We appeal to the public, and our fellow public servants in government, as well as those from the media and private sector, to work hand in hand with us in resolving this issue. Allow us to work first so that we can address the problem entirely. Accusing, sowing intrigues and maligning our offices and officials will not help at this time,” it said. (PNA)

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1045496

MRT-7 construction delays due to right of way issues: DOTr

Completion of the MRT-7 project was moved to August 2020 from August 2019 after hitting another roadblock in the acquisition of the 33-hectare depot in San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan, a transport official said Tuesday.

The 33.2 hectare property will be used for the San Jose Station and an inter-model transport terminal, Asec. Giovanni Lopez for Procurement and Project Implementation of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) told DZMM.

Delays were attributed to a Malolos court ruling that favored a land owner who sought a higher zonal value of the property at P1,800 per square meter from the original Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) valuation of P200 per sqm, Lopez said.

Under the ruling, the acquisition cost of the depot ballooned to P580 million from P67 million, or almost half of the P1.65 billion right of way budget for the whole MRT 7 project, he said.

“Ngayon po dahil sa utos ng husgado eh kahalati na po ng budget ubos na ho. Ano pong magiging epekto nito? Ang magiging epekto nito tataas po ang cost ng proyekto. Pag tumaas ang presyo dadaan na naman yan sa NEDA for approval. Madedelay na naman,” he said.

He said the transport department is set to appeal the decision by filing a petition for Certiorari this month.

The MRT-7 is a public-private partnership between the government and San Miguel Corp.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/21/18/mrt-7-construction-delays-due-to-right-of-way-issues-dotr

SMC’s tollway company raises profit to P791-million

The tollways unit of San Miguel Corp. said net income rose 5 percent in the first six months of the year due to higher vehicle traffic volume.

South Luzon Tollways Corp. booked a net profit of P791.2 million in the January-to-June period from P750.6 million year-on-year.

The company’s toll revenues amounted to P1.55 billion, up six percent from last year’s P1.47 billion, driven by higher vehicle traffic volume.

SLTC attributed the increase in revenue during the period to the expansion of housing communities and vibrant consumer socio-economic activities and industrial development in the south of Manila.

“These developments enhanced the volume for class 1 vehicle. The traffic volume for class 3 vehicles also went up mainly due to the thriving Calabarzon, the second most densely populated region after NCR [National Capital Region],” SLTC said.

Earlier, SLTC said it would spend P14.85 billion to extend South Luzon Expressway by more than 56 kilometers from Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Tayabas, Quezon.

The project is divided into five sections. Section 1 covers Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Macban, Laguna (11.32 km); Macban, Laguna to San Pablo, Laguna (12.2 km); San Pablo, Laguna to Tiaong, Quezon (7.5-km); Tiaong to Candelaria, Quezon (15 km) and Candelaria to Tayabas/Lucena, Quezon (10.93 km).

SLTC said the project would reduce travel time along the 58-kilometer stretch between Sto. Tomas and Lucena from four hours to one hour.

The company said the project would enhance the economic efficiency of the existing SLEx, allowing to meet the increasing demand of traffic volume due to the rapid growth population, urbanization and economic development of Quezon province and adjoining provinces.

The project is expected to be completed by 2021.

The expansion to TR4 is part of SLTC’s 30-year concession or until 2036.

http://manilastandard.net/business/corporate/273473/smc-s-tollway-company-raises-profit-to-p791-million.html

Team players?

Of late, a distressing trend has emerged among some of Duterte’s Cabinet members: Speaking out against each other in public.

Of course this isn’t the first time this has happened under any president. I can’t even say if it’s any better or worse than under previous presidencies. But that’s just a question of degree; and in any case it’s an alarming trend under a chief executive whose adulation by millions is matched by the vociferousness of the minority and the resources of their financial backers here and abroad.

The latest instance had Health Secretary Pincoy Duque criticizing the Energy Department for not bringing him into the loop when they decided to order the oil companies to start offering diesel fuel compliant with the 22-year-old
Euro-2 standard, not just the current Euro-4 standard.

Duque’s concern is that the older standard will allow dirtier, albeit slightly cheaper (by only 30 centavos per liter) diesel into the country. Whichever side you believe, what’s for sure is that the environmental lobby will take up arms over this, causing another headache for Duterte that might have been avoided if his men had remembered to talk to each other first.

This whole trend really started with the President’s economic managers. Over at DBM, Secretary Ben Diokno put his foot down on the cash-based approach to replace the obligation-based approach to budgeting favored by the Lower House.

The House leadership has already offered a compromise: a 15-month obligation-based budget, instead of the traditional two years, that lets Diokno tighten up on spending while addressing the discrepancy between the calendar-based fiscal year and the school year starting June, which would leave most of the 2nd semester in public schools unfunded under a cash approach.

But as of writing, Diokno won’t even talk to the congressmen about their compromise. Which makes me wonder who in fact is supposed to enjoy the exclusive power of the public purse.

For his part, Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, after leading the charge against federalism based on unexamined numbers, is now questioning the decision to bring a third telco into the country. In his view, “the priority is to have a better regulatory environment,” evidently even more important than lining up behind a long-settled policy initiative like the third telco.

Well, I used to be the CFO of a well-known fixed-line telco some years back, and I can vouch for the outrageous offenses that the dominant telco got away with, up to and including outright defiance of the regulators at NTC.
That’s what real market power means. And the only way to cut down that power is to force the telco market to be shared more equitably.

Nobody’s questioning the brains of the economic team. But perhaps it’s their braininess that makes them forget sometimes that being team players is their number one job description, in their capacity as no more than alter egos of the President (under a system that is neither federal nor parliamentary).

***

One of the (many other) things going right under the economic team was government’s recent approval, under NEDA’s leadership, of the long-term rehabilitation and regular maintenance of the problem-plagued MRT-3 system, which will be financed by a 28-year, 38-billion yen Japanese loan charging annual interest of only 0.1 percent.

It may be recalled that MRT’s problems started when the previous administration replaced a first-class maintenance provider like Sumitomo with a third-rate local consortium, most likely to milk the system of funds for the LP’s 2016 campaign war chest. Thankfully that’s now behind us, though we’re still waiting for the scoundrels to be properly charged in court.

Over on the China end of things, Foreign Secretary Alan Cayetano will be visiting Beijing to firm up a joint submarine oil exploration deal with China, among other business prospects. Critics like Stratbase’s Dindo Manhit or UP maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal harrumphed that we should be ready to sue China abroad if they deviate from the deal, and make sure we’re not prevented later from doing exploration on our own.

To firm up the negotiating ground under us, we’d suggest holding the deal discussions in Manila, not Beijing. And to improve our negotiating strategy, our team might even solicit the advice of the lawyers who obtained that favorable UNCLOS ruling at The Hague. Even if it may have been ill-timed and ill-advised to run after that ruling, we might as well put it to good use now.

And going farther out to Russia, we’ve been politely advised by a senior US Defense Department official to “think very carefully” before buying submarines and other military goods from Russia. He warned about alleged Russian crimes in Crimea and the Ukraine, and reminded us that continuing to buy from the US ensures interoperability of systems (not to mention, I guess, availability of parts and upgrades down the road).

It’s tempting to tell this American official to stick his suggestion up where the sun don’t shine. But interoperability is in fact a valid concern since so much of our military hardware does come from the US. More importantly, if push comes to shove with the Chinese, it ain’t gonna be the Russians who’ll pull our nuts out of the fire. The special relationship we have with the adoptive home of so many Fil-Ams is worth looking after.

***

Let’s close on an inspiring note: Duterte’s plan to visit Israel early next month, at the invitation of their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This will be the first visit there by a Philippine head of state since diplomatic ties were established between both countries in 1957. Agreements are expected to be signed on trade, labor, tourism, agriculture, counter-terrorism, and security.

As a matter of fact, Israeli-Philippine ties go back nearly two decades earlier than 1957, to the time of President Manuel Quezon, who gained a place on Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial to generous Gentiles by deciding to admit nearly 2,000 Jews fleeing the Nazi Holocaust. I’m proud to say that it was my grandfather Don Jorge Bocobo, then a senior member of Quezon’s Cabinet, who led this historic open-arms initiative.

This is one reason I’ve always been an Israel-phile, even before “Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot hit the silver screen. With so many Filipinos now working in that part of the world, it’s good to be on the sentimental good side of the Jewish state.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

DMCI, Japan firm to bid for Malolos-Tutuban rail

DMCI Holdings Inc. said Monday it teamed up with a Japanese group to bid for the first phase of the North-South Commuter Rail project.

DMCI Holdings president Isidro Consunji did not identify the Japanese joint venture partner because of a non-disclosure agreement.

Consunji earlier flew to Japan to finalize the joint venture partnership with the Japanese group.

The joint venture partners plan to bid for the 38-kilometer rail line connecting Malolos, Bulacan and Tutuban, Manila.

The first phase of the elevated railway is expected to reduce travel time from Malolos to Tutuban to 35 minutes from 2 hours and allow economic activities to spread out to the surrounding areas of Metro Manila.

The NSCR project will be partially funded by Japan’s official development assistance loan amounting to 241.991 billion yen signed in November 2015.

The project will use advanced Japanese technologies, including seismic designs to make the infrastructure disaster-resilient.

Meanwhile, DMCI Holdings said construction unit D.M. Consunji Inc. posted a net income of P676 million in the first half, up 36 percent from P479 million recorded in the same period last year.

This was brought about by a higher gross profit percentage of the business units due to the late approval of variation orders which were already accomplished in the previous period.

First-half revenues reached P7.2 billion, up 13 percent from P6.4 billion a year ago, as the company completed more projects this year.

DMCI expects better performance from the construction unit this year because of more ongoing projects and newly-awarded projects that will commence later this year.

The company said the building business saw a 48-percent increase in revenue in the first half, while the infrastructure business suffered a 9-percent dip in revenue because of the delays related to right-of-way issues.

DMCI said recent developments in the availability of right-of-way would help improve the company’s revenue in the second half.

It said the ongoing bids and negotiations for privately-funded projects and the government’s rollout of the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program would also help the company increase its order booking next year.

http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/273488