Mandaluyong now owns 3 MRT stations

The Mandaluyong City government is the new owner of the Ortigas, Shaw and Boni stations of the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC) after the properties were forfeited during a public bidding last Friday due to non-payment of real property taxes.

In a statement issued yesterday by the city of Mandaluyong, lawyer Eddie Fernandez, city legal department chief, said the MRTC has one year to redeem the properties before the local government officially consolidates full ownership of the three rail stations of the MRT-3.

He said this was based on Chapter 6, Section 263 of the Local Government Code.

Fernandez said the law also states that the MRTC must settle its six-year (2000 to 2006) obligations, totalling P1.488 billion, with the local treasurer. These include the interest and the cost of sale.

"Should the MRTC fail to redeem the property, the ownership thereof shall be fully vested on the Mandaluyong City  government," Fernandez said.

On Dec. 5, 2005, the MRTC asked the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court to nullify the city government’s demand for tax payment.

However, the court denied the request for a temporary restraining order.

Mandaluyong Mayor Neptali Gonzales II said that had the MRTC paid its obligations to the local government,  various infrastructure projects and educational programs could have been implemented for the people.

Apart from Mandaluyong, local governments of Makati, Quezon City and Pasay are also asserting their tax rights to the stations, which were established in their respective localities, the Mandaluyong City government said.

MRT operations started in 2000 under a build-lease-transfer (BLT) scheme during the administration of then President Joseph Estrada.

In a phone interview with The Star, MRT spokesman Ronilo Hermes Bacolod said they will appeal the decision of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court.

They will also be filing a motion for reconsideration, through the Office of the Solicitor General.

Bacolod said the MRTC also needs the legal opinion of the Department of Justice or the Supreme Court in connection with the payment of taxes.