Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) demanded the MRT Holdings, Inc. (MRTH) to drop its bid to stop the addition of 48 new train cars to the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) system.
DOTC said in a statement on Tuesday (July 28) that the government is addressing the demand of MRT-3 commuters — to have no more delays to the addition of train coaches.
“The riding public deserves a much better MRT-3 than what the private owner is providing. That is why we exercised political will to add new train cars ourselves,” said Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya.
“Not only did MRTH fail to add them, they even filed a case to stop us when we did.”
Abaya called the case filed by MRTH against the DOTC as a case against the public, adding that it is fighting this case for public interest.
Case pending at CA
In February 2014, a case was filed by MRTH at the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a permanent injunction against the DOTC. This was to stop the Transportation department from adding new trains to the system.
MRTH is the current controlling shareholder of MRT-3’s contractual owner, the MRT Corporation (MRTC).
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati initially issued a TRO, but eventually sided with the DOTC and ruled against MRTH.
According to the RTC, apart from the fact that only the Supreme Court may enjoin such a project, public interest must prevail in this case.
MRTH, however, appealed its case to the Court of Appeals (CA), which also sided with the DOTC and the public by denying the same. The case is still pending with the CA as MRTH is seeking a reconsideration of the appellate court’s decision.
Buyout offer
In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday (July 27), President Benigno Aquino III mentioned that the MRT-3’s private owner failed to add new trains despite its contractual obligation.
“Bihira ang nagbabanggit na may katuwang tayong pribadong korporasyon, na naalala ang kanilang mga karapatan, pero tila ba nalimot ang kanilang mga obligasyon,” Aquino said.
He further said that the MRT-3 should have had a general overhaul in 2008, but when the DOTC made an inspection, it found out that only repainting was done.
