C5 rail, MRT-11 projects pitched B L S. M @lorenzmarasigan
T
HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) has received unsolicited proposals for the development of two different rail systems in Metro Manila, its chief said on Wednesday. At the General Membership Meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said the agency has received a proposal to build a Metro Rail Transit (MRT) line that runs between Monumento in Caloocan and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, as well as an offer to build a railway along C5 Road between the cities of Pasay and Taguig.
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
“We are in the process of identifying other railway lines. There are four operating lines now, the next operating line will be MRT-7. There is an unsolicited proposal for MRT-11, which is from Monumento to San Jose del Monte. We are evaluating this unsolicited proposal...There is also a proposal to have an MRT along C5,” he said. Refusing to name the private group that submitted the proposal for MRT-11, Bautista explained that the offer is essentially a build-operate-transfer [BOT] proposal that the agency hopes to evaluate “within the year.” “There is an additional submission, I think this week,” he said. Bautista added that the MRT-11
may be connected to the MRT-7, a railway line that will run between Quezon City and Bulacan. “If the documents are complete, we will review it. And since it’s an unsolicited proposal, it will be subject to a Swiss Challenge,” he explained. Bautista said the department “hopes” to issue the original proponent status by “next year.” The proposal for the C5 Railway, meanwhile, he said involves the construction of a railway system that will run between Pasay and Taguig, running along the C5 Road. “There’s a proposal, but it’s still not complete yet,” he said. Project costs are “moving” parts, S “C,” A
BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
‘RESERVES HELPED PHL www.businessmirror.com.ph
■
Thursday, April 13, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 178
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
DEAL WITH U.S. RATE HIKE’
DOTr chief: Ports scheme will remain deferred
B C U. O
T
@caiordinario
HE Philippines was able to withstand the increases in US policy rates due to its large reserves, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In a briefing at the World BankInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said having large reserves allowed the central bank to intervene in the foreign exchange market to prevent the peso from depreciating significantly against the US dollar. Medalla said any actions of the US in terms of monetary policy, including quantitative easing which was implemented by the Federal Reserve in 2013, will affect the Philippines and the world because of its position as the center of the global financial system. “We wish that the US will be more caring about international conditions. When they change policy rates—by the way we had the opposite problem when it did QE— the peso was threatening to cross 40 and become 35 and we were told a lot of firms that engage in tradeables may go bankrupt or they have to layoff [workers], so we had to intervene heavily,” Medalla said. “So, the lesson is accept that the international financial system will be driven largely by US domestic concerns and be ready for it. And the lesson is to have large reserves,” he stressed. During the briefing, Medalla was asked whether the BSP would take a different tack in terms of its response to the Federal Reserve’s recent policy actions if it knew inflation would be as sticky as it is. Sticky inflation, Medalla said, is the economy being tag-teamed by different shocks one after the other. This leads to high headline inflation which was at 7.6 percent, and core inflation at 8 percent in March. For the Philippines, Medalla said the shocks that affected the economy included the RussiaUkraine war which increased oil prices and was followed by supply C A
B B F @butchfBM
T
HE Transportation chief on Wednesday assured senators the controversial system being pushed by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) that stakeholders say will further bloat already soaring logistics costs will remain deferred until all issues are resolved. Testifying online at a Senate Public Services Committee hearing on the PPA’s Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry and Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS), Secretary Jaime B. Bautista answered “Opo, Mam [Yes, mam],” in reply to committee chair Sen. Grace Poe, who asked him whether or not they can “assure stakeholders this program won’t just be implemented just like that?” “Right now, the decision of the Board is to defer it while we’re attending to the [issues raised by the] opposition,” Bautista told Senators Poe and Risa Hontiveros, who had authored Resolution 484 seeking the inquiry on “increased logistics costs in the Philippines.” Bautista informed senators the PPA Board decided in January 2023 to freeze implementation of the controversial program, after the
QUAY cranes are seen at International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s flagship Manila International Container Terminal at the Port of Manila on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The Senate Public Services committee on Wednesday opened hearings, in aid of legislation, into a controversial program of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) that has drawn massive objections from port users and big business groups. Story at right NONIE REYES
S “DOT,” A
U.S. EXTENDS WIDE-RANGING AID TO PHL B M T-B @maloutalosig
T
HE United States is coming back full throttle to the Philippine stage with an all-out commitment to help its oldest ally in the region meet its military, economic and environmental needs and achieve its ambitious goal of becoming a middle-income economy by year 2040. The US announced a whole range of specific deliverables after the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington D.C. Tuesday (Wednesday PH time) with Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin III of the US, and Enrique Manalo and Carlito Galvez of the Philippines. The four foreign and defense
ministers followed up on each other’s commitments made in January 2023 to deepen their bilateral relationship on defense, climate and energy, food security, maritime affairs, civil space cooperation, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, as well as democracy and human rights. “We have reached a number of key understandings that the Philippines believes will truly elevate our relationship and translate into direct, substantial, and tangible benefits for our peoples and countries,” Manalo said. The following are the highlights of their talks:
Defense
■ Over US$200 million (P11.2
billion) of US assistance to double the Philippines’s capacity on defense; ■ Additional $100 million (P5.5 billion) to buy medium-lift helicopters under Foreign Military Financing; ■ Fast-tracking discussions on an acquisition plan for a fleet of multirole fighter aircraft for the Philippine Air Force; ■ Prioritizing the modernization of “shared defense capabilities” especially in maritime domain; ■ Over $100 million (P5.5 billion) infrastructure investments at the existing five military sites where US soldiers can preposition S “AID,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES US 54.7340 ■ JAPAN 0.4096 ■ UK 68.0344 ■ HK 6.9728 ■ SINGAPORE 41.0854 ■ AUSTRALIA 36.4091 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 14.5910 ■ EU 59.7257 ■ KOREA 0.0415 ■ CHINA 7.9492 Source: BSP (April 12, 2023)