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Early
this year, the government announced it intends to buy
out a private consortium which built and currently owns
the Edsa Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 line under a
build-lease-transfer scheme.
The
planned buyout aims to generate $480 million or so in
savings for the government, which it said can be used to
buy more trains, improve the system and extend it from
its depot beside TriNoma mall in Quezon City all the way
to Monumento. There, it will interlink with Light Rail
Transit Line 1.
We do
not know what happened to that plan. But we hope
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Finance
Secretary Gary Teves are doing their best to get that
plan off the ground. With the price of oil in the world
market at historic highs, an extended and much-improved
Edsa MRT 3 would be an excellent gift to the
half-a-million daily patrons of this system.
In a
way, the skyrocketing price of gasoline has come with
some blessings. There has been a noticeable reduction in
the volume of vehicles on the streets of Metro Manila.
Both the Land Transportation Office and the Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority confirmed this development.
It seems motorists are planning their trips better, and
many of them appear to have opted for keeping their cars
off the streets and settling for whatever
public-transportation mode is available.
That
also means a reduction in toxic emissions and less
wear-and-tear for our roads.
The
Department of Transportation and Communications also
recently reported a significant increase—in the vicinity
of 10 percent—in the daily ridership of Edsa MRT 3.
We hope
Mendoza and Teves would act quickly on the opportunities
that these recent developments have brought about. More
and more urbanites are opting for the light-rail transit
mode. We can make them embrace that option if the
current lines are improved and extended.
If not,
they will go back to using their cars once gasoline
prices drop by a few pesos. That would mean a return to
previous pollution and congestion levels. We can prevent
that by giving them a comfortable, convenient and much
cheaper alternative today—while they are looking for
one.
It is
interesting to note that the search for such
alternatives is happening not only in the Philippines
but elsewhere in the world.
Even
before the oil-market speculators began raking it in by
pushing prices to unprecedented levels, America, Europe
and Australia had already been expanding their use of
light-rail transit systems. The goal was more to take
advantage of the relatively lower cost of constructing
light-rail systems and to protect the environment, since
cars and buses are seen to be more prone to the emission
of toxic pollutants.
Light-rail systems are also generally preferred since
they can run on narrower rights-of-way, not much more
than two-car lanes wide for a double-track system. They
can be run on existing streets or street medians and,
therefore, would not require the expropriation of
property that usually happens when new highways or
heavy-rail systems are built.
But
today, the more compelling reason for one to ride a
light-rail system like the Edsa MRT 3 is affordability.
Gasoline prices are inching up to levels where fewer
motorists can afford to fill up their tanks with the
precious effluence, leaving them with little option but
to take the light-rail system.
Secretaries Mendoza and Teves, we are more than sure,
appreciate this concern.
We
therefore join the half-a-million daily riders of Edsa
MRT 3 that the much-hoped-for additional trains and
extension of the line would happen soon.
The
buyout and refinancing of the Edsa MRT 3 is no longer
just a cute option for the government, with lots of
economic and actuarial consequences.
It is
now a matter of survival for many Filipinos.
We are
confident that Secretaries Mendoza and Teves would act
fast to help us survive these difficult times.
Local
shipbuilding makes waves
The
other week, President Arroyo went to Subic Bay to
inaugurate a 41,000-ton container ship, dubbed MV
Argolikos, built by the Korean firm Hanjin Heavy
Industries using Filipino labor.
Last
month, a local shipping company, Herma Shipping and
Transport Corp. (HSTC), launched the “first
Filipino-made international-class tanker,” MT Matikas.
Built at a cost of $10 million at the HSTC shipyard in
Mariveles, Bataan, the 3,710-deadweight-ton vessel is
now on long-term lease with Petron. Herminio Esguerra,
chairman of the Herma Group of Companies, announced at
the media launch that they are currently in negotiations
with petroleum companies to build more tankers. Slated
for November completion is a second vessel capable of
carrying 14,000 barrels of oil, for long-term charter
with Chevron. A third vessel, also for Chevron, has a
capacity of 40,000 barrels, while a fourth, with Total,
is a 14,000-barrel vessel. A fifth vessel is also in the
works for Philippine National Oil Co.-Transport and
Shipping Corp.
The
launching of MT Matikas is significant as it marks the
rebirth of shipbuilding in the country. If you think
Esguerra’s vision of the Philippines as a maritime power
in this part of the world is pure fantasy, consider that
his company started with a rented barge and 10 employees
in 1985. Today, Herma Group is a multibillion-peso
company with nine subsidiaries providing petroleum,
maritime and environmental services to foreign and
domestic industrial partners. Esguerra relies on Enrico
Cavestany, HSTC president, to run the company’s fleet of
21 tankers and barges. Cavestany is well-prepared to
handle the enormous challenge, having devoted almost 30
years of his career working in the petroleum industry.
At Caltex Philippines Inc., he rose from the ranks to
become one of the top marketing executives and
eventually president of the multinational oil firm until
he retired in 2000.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com |
