Gov't reaffirms support for EDSA MRT 3 project

Four top administration officials reaffirmed yesterday the Philippine government's commitment to the EDSA MRT 3 project and its build-lease-transfer contract with proponent Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC).

This was the clear message delivered at a meeting of the flagship project's local and international lenders in Manila by Transportation and Communications Secretary Vicente Rivera Jr., National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Felipe Medalla, Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael Buenaventura.

Medalla dispelled recent speculations in the media about the government's commitment by saying that "We will make the lease payments agreed to in the contract regardless of the revenue stream. Of course we would prefer to have a larger revenue stream from the farebox, but there is no way we would diminish the credibility of the Philippine government in the international financial community by reneging on a clear national obligation." Medalla expressed confidence that despite the present low ridership of the Metrostar Express system, the environment and social benefits of the mass transit system already make it worth the investment. "This train system will save our lungs" he said.

Speaking on the issue of the first lease payment of about $40 million due in July, Diokno said: "Our commitment is firm. We will make the July payment. We will invoke the automaticity of debt payment." Diokno added that even if the payments have not been included in the present national budget, the funds have already been identified to avoid any default in the payment schedule.

Buenaventura meanwhile assured the participants, which included representatives from Japanese, Czech and local lending institutions that the Bangko Sentral "would provide the foreign exchange facility to make the payments. He said the Bangko Sentral has reviewed the project and found it to be properly registered and approved for such allocations.

Rivera also told the lenders that his department has "always stood behind the project" and that "the train's ridership will certainly improve once the last three stations at Ayala, Magallanes and Taft Avenue are completed."

MRTC chairman Robert John Sobrepeña meanwhile stressed his company's dedication to controlling the project's cost. He said the project "is actually within budget, a fact that is almost unheard of in a major infrastructure project of this nature throughout the world, not just in Asia."