The coveted project has seen 3 transportation secretaries come and go. Finally, the construction will start on September 29.
Of all of Manila's sprawling megaprojects, the 13,700-square-meter (sqm) common station deal that will connect the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines is perhaps the most controversial and coveted contract.
It took the project a decade since its inception way back in 2007 before construction could finally begin. The culprit is a legal squabble between the government and the group of the Philippines' richest, the Sy family, over the naming rights for the common station, led to the arrest and detention of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona and the multi-million peso pork barrel fund scam.
The project has seen 3 transportation secretaries come and go.
"After years and years of waiting, we will break ground on the MRT-LRT Common Station on September 29," Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said on the sidelines of an event in Taguig City last week.
State-run Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on September 28, 2009, accepted P200 million from SM Prime Holdings Incorporated to place the common station beside The Annex at SM City North EDSA and name it after the mall. The agreement was signed during the leadership of the late Leandro Mendoza, former transportation and communications secretary.
3 chiefs come and go
But when Joseph Emilio Abaya took over from Roxas in October 2012, the direction of the project changed. Here is where the problem emerged.
In April 2014, Abaya and his department decided to give the winner of the P65-billion extension of the LRT Line 1 (LRT1) a say in the construction of the common station.
The group that bagged the project was composed of the companies of Manuel Pangilinan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. Ayala Corporation's TriNoma mall is located in front of SM City North EDSA.
It was also during that year when the transportation department insisted on putting up the common station near TriNoma, saying it would result in P1 billion in savings to the government.
Because of the changes in terms, SM Prime sued the government for allegedly breaching their 2009 "naming rights" agreement.
The company had repeatedly sought an update from the department but was ignored. The latest letter to the DOTC was sent on May 6, a source with knowledge of the matter said. “Then, suddenly, in complete breach and disregard of the terms of the MOA and without any official notice to SMPHI despite the latter’s repeated formal inquiries, the DOTC unilaterally relocated the Station to Trinoma and made the same a mere component of the recently bid out LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project,” SM Prime said.
On July 30, 2014, SM Prime obtained a Supreme Court (SC) order stopping the DOTC and the LRTA from transferring the location of the common station to TriNoma.
Abaya had vowed a compromise agreement to push through with the construction of the badly-needed project as soon as possible. One of his ideas was to put up two small common stations.
But no agreement was reached during the Aquino administration.
A new, costlier compromise deal
Tugade had said the agreement would pave the way for the filing of a joint motion to the SC to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO).
Once the TRO is lifted, the only headache left would be the right-of-way delivery by the government. If delivered timely, commuters in Metro Manila will experience the country's first common station by April 2019.
https://www.rappler.com/business/182682-construction-mrt-lrt-common-station-begin-september-2017
It took the project a decade since its inception way back in 2007 before construction could finally begin. The culprit is a legal squabble between the government and the group of the Philippines' richest, the Sy family, over the naming rights for the common station, led to the arrest and detention of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona and the multi-million peso pork barrel fund scam.
The project has seen 3 transportation secretaries come and go.
"After years and years of waiting, we will break ground on the MRT-LRT Common Station on September 29," Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said on the sidelines of an event in Taguig City last week.
State-run Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on September 28, 2009, accepted P200 million from SM Prime Holdings Incorporated to place the common station beside The Annex at SM City North EDSA and name it after the mall. The agreement was signed during the leadership of the late Leandro Mendoza, former transportation and communications secretary.
The SM Group cited the MOA, which states that the common station would be constructed in front of The Annex at SM City North EDSA and would be named SM in exchange for P200 million.
SM added that Section 3 of the MOA specifically provides for the grant of access way or interconnection of the common station via a Bridgeway to the pertinent level of the mall.
Abaya admitted the MOA signed in 2009 indeed specified that the proposed common station location would be located at SM North EDSA. “It is mentioned there, what you have to look at is if the government is obligated to be there. It depends on how you read the MOA.”
3 chiefs come and go
But when Joseph Emilio Abaya took over from Roxas in October 2012, the direction of the project changed. Here is where the problem emerged.
In April 2014, Abaya and his department decided to give the winner of the P65-billion extension of the LRT Line 1 (LRT1) a say in the construction of the common station.
The group that bagged the project was composed of the companies of Manuel Pangilinan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. Ayala Corporation's TriNoma mall is located in front of SM City North EDSA.
It was also during that year when the transportation department insisted on putting up the common station near TriNoma, saying it would result in P1 billion in savings to the government.
Because of the changes in terms, SM Prime sued the government for allegedly breaching their 2009 "naming rights" agreement.
The company had repeatedly sought an update from the department but was ignored. The latest letter to the DOTC was sent on May 6, a source with knowledge of the matter said. “Then, suddenly, in complete breach and disregard of the terms of the MOA and without any official notice to SMPHI despite the latter’s repeated formal inquiries, the DOTC unilaterally relocated the Station to Trinoma and made the same a mere component of the recently bid out LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project,” SM Prime said.
On July 30, 2014, SM Prime obtained a Supreme Court (SC) order stopping the DOTC and the LRTA from transferring the location of the common station to TriNoma.
Abaya had vowed a compromise agreement to push through with the construction of the badly-needed project as soon as possible. One of his ideas was to put up two small common stations.
But no agreement was reached during the Aquino administration.
A new, costlier compromise deal
When Tugade took office, he vowed to solve the common station issue during his first year as transportation chief. Within his 1st year, a deal was reached: the proposed MRT-LRT Common Station would be built between The Annex at SM City North EDSA and Landmark-TriNoma.
But its price tag? Higher by P200 million – an additional expense for the government.
The new project cost is P2.8 billion – higher than the original price for the 2009 location, which was set at P2.6 billion at 7,200 sqm; and the 2014 location pegged at P1.4 billion at 2,500 sqm.
"The current location is with 13,700 sqm, so it is a bigger station with almost double the capacity of the original 2009 design at only P200 million more," Tugade had said.
Spanning over 13,700 sqm, the MRT-LRT Common Station will have 3 essential components:
But its price tag? Higher by P200 million – an additional expense for the government.
The new project cost is P2.8 billion – higher than the original price for the 2009 location, which was set at P2.6 billion at 7,200 sqm; and the 2014 location pegged at P1.4 billion at 2,500 sqm.
"The current location is with 13,700 sqm, so it is a bigger station with almost double the capacity of the original 2009 design at only P200 million more," Tugade had said.
Spanning over 13,700 sqm, the MRT-LRT Common Station will have 3 essential components:
- Area A where the platform and concourse for LRT Line 1 (LRT1) and MRT Line 3 (MRT3) are located between Landmark and existing MRT station with glass window and additional footbridge, the LRT station has three floors with passenger support facility;
- Area B where the two concourses connecting Areas A and C are located; as well as
- Area C where the platform for MRT Line 7 (MRT7) is located at SM City North EDSA Skydome
Tugade had said the agreement would pave the way for the filing of a joint motion to the SC to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO).
Once the TRO is lifted, the only headache left would be the right-of-way delivery by the government. If delivered timely, commuters in Metro Manila will experience the country's first common station by April 2019.
https://www.rappler.com/business/182682-construction-mrt-lrt-common-station-begin-september-2017
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