The greater good vs. local autonomy

Below is the editorial of today's issue of the Business Mirror, which also reflects the opinion expressed yesterday in the blog.

The MRT Conundrum

MANDALUYONG Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. may have scored political points with
his 300,000 constituents when he decided to take on the Metro Rail Transit Corp.
(MRTC). And, he has a valid point in criticizing the national government for
undertaking, in the agreement covering the MRT, to pay the local taxes for a
private consortium, only to say later that it has no intention of doing so.
However, the millions of other residents of the capital region—of which
Mandaluyong is but a tiny slice—are not amused by his move.

MRTC operates the Metro Rail Transit System, popularly known as the MRT,
Metrostar Express or Metrostar, which has a single line, MRT-3 or the Blue Line.
MRTC is a private company operating in partnership with the Department of
Transportation and Communications under a build-lease-transfer (BLT)
agreement.

A judge—from Mandaluyong, naturally—has been persuaded by the mayor’s
argument that MRTC owes his city some P2 billion in real-estate taxes. The levy
pertains to three MRT-3 stations located near the intersections of Ortigas, Shaw
and Boni avenues.

The local authorities of two other cities have sought to dun MRTC for
building train stops in their jurisdictions. The bid of Quezon City to exact
toll on the commuter-train operator has been dismissed, while that of Makati is
still pending. It is only in Mandaluyong—so far—that the attempt by local
officials to get their piece of the pie from a key national infrastructure has
met judicial success.

With MRT-3 passenger volume topping 500,000 on weekdays, Abalos might have
been led to believe that the commuter line’s operators must be raking in
megaprofits. In fact, thanks to complications in the company’s BLT arrangement
with the national government, MRTC is not even able to generate enough revenue
to expand its fleet of coaches. Despite the spike in ridership as a result of
skyrocketing fuel prices in the past few months, the commuter-train line only
manages to continue running because of state-guaranteed earnings.

When first conceived in the early 1990s, the MRT-3 was envisioned to
decongest the perennially heavy traffic on Metro Manila’s main artery, Epifanio
de los Santos Avenue (Edsa). Although Edsa still looks like a long, winding
parking lot far too often, the train has become a welcome alternative to
hundreds of thousands of commuters who need to get from the northeastern part of
Metro Manila to points further south and west of the capital region and vice
versa in a hurry. The MRT-3 passes through not just Mandaluyong, but also Pasay,
Makati, San Juan and Quezon City.

Like its predecessor, the Light Rail Transit 1 that runs from Baclaran to
Monumento, and the newer line stretching from Marikina to C. M. Recto Avenue in
Manila, the MRT-3 is a key component of a grand mass-transport system that Metro
Manilans have been demanding for decades. Work has begun on yet another line
that would connect San Jose del Monte in Bulacan to North Avenue in Quezon City.

It’s hard to imagine the chaos that would ensue if the legal theory that
underpinned the Mandaluyong judge’s decision affirming Mandaluyong City’s power
not only to impose real-estate taxes on the MRT-3, but also to seize the three
stations located in the city were applied to the other commuter-train lines, as
well as to civil works like the North and South Luzon Expressways, Skyway and
the Coastal Road toll way.

Dozens of city, town, provincial and even barangay officials might be tempted
to exercise virtually feudal rights over national infrastructure.

Local executives like Mayor Abalos ought to appreciate projects like the
MRT-3 not as another opportunity to raise funds, but as a boon to their
constituents and, just as important, an incentive to do business in their
localities.

MRT riders face dilemma

While the DOTC, the MRT Corp. and the city government of Mandaluyong lock horns on the issue involving the unpaid realty taxes involving MRT-3's stations in Ortigas, Shaw Boulevard and Boni Avenue, the daily commuter, who already suffers from insufferably long queues and packed trains that sometimes fail, may soon have to bear an even bigger burden.

Business Mirror reported yesterday that MRTC general manager Roberto Lastimoso threatened to cut the MRT-3's trips from North EDSA only to Santolan, and from Taft up until Guadalupe, should Mandaluyong City make good on its bid to wrest ownership of the aforesaid stations, following the writ of possession awarded to the city government by the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong City.

The arguments by each of the parties may be summarized as follows:

• MRTC - under our contract with the Republic of the Philippines, represented by the DOTC, we were only going to build the overhead railway and the stations, and the DOTC would operate it and pay us monthly rent.
• DOTC - we're a government agency exempt from paying realty taxes.
• Mandaluyong City Government - we're not taxing the DOTC; we're taxing the MRTC, and all those small firms which own commercial establishments and have put up billboards in the stations within our jurisdiction.

The issues are not new. In previous years, similar mass-based transport facilities have been levied realty taxes by city governments. Parañaque City once sought to hold a public auction to sell the portions of the NAIA in its territory. Of course then Mayor Joey Marquez was shut up by the Supreme Court. Pedestrian Pinoy thinks that the city government of Mandaluyong should take a huge step back and rethink its strategy with regard to taxing the MRT-3 and taking over 3 of its stations. The concessions given to the MRTC were designed to be particularly attractive because the government could not itself undertake to build the railway, despite having the mandate to do so. And the concessions are legal (though they may not necessarily be advantageous, such as the sovereign guarantee). If private corporations involved in the construction and operation of public infrastructure were to be put at the mercy of city "kingdoms" who think themselves outside of the collective efforts at improving the economy, then the people -- who would be left expecting too much from a national government that has little will, and even less resources, to undertake big-ticket projects -- would only have their huge expectations dashed.

Spirit of Manila Airlines

Things must be looking up for Philippine aviation, with the recent buzz generated by Spirit of Manila Airlines, which will soon operate as a low cost carrier (LCC), with planned flights from Clark to Bahrain, Bangkok, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johor Bahru, Kaohsiung, Macau, Osaka, Palau, Taipei, Mumbai, Karachi and the Gulf Region. Their neatly laid-out website is already up and running, although attempts at online reservations have not been successful and many of the links are still obviously under construction. These are exciting times for the flying Filipino.

Click on the image below.

SCTEx: 94 kilometers of bliss

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a 94-kilometer expressway which traverses the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga, and Tarlac, connecting vital growth areas in Central Luzon, including the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, the Clark Special Economic Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City. It is the Philippines' longest tollway, and may be accessed from Manila through a spur road after the Dau Toll Plaza of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Presently, it has seven fully operational toll gates:

1. Tipo Interchange, which leads to Subic;
2. Dinalupihan Interchange, which exits at Roman Highway, and provides access to the Olongapo-Gapan Road;
3. Mabalacat Interchange, which allows access to and from the NLEx as well as MacArthur Highway -- it is also currently the best way to access Clark;
4. Dolores Exit;
5. Concepcion Interchange, which provides access to Capas through the Concepcion-Magalang Road;
6. San Miguel Interchange/Luisita Exit; and
7. Tarlac City Interchange.

Four more interchanges/exits are being constructed, and will be operational in 2009. These are the Floridablanca Interchange, Porac Interchange, Clark South Interchange, and Clark North Interchange. A map of the SCTEx may be found at the BCDA's website.

The partial opening of the Subic-Clark segment of the SCTEx dramatically reduced travel time to Subic: what used to be a 4-hour ordeal from Balintawak became a very leisurely 80 minutes.

Much has been said about the pleasures of cruising through the smooth surface of the SCTEx: from the endless views of a green countryside uncluttered by billboards, to amazing feats of engineering that cut through mountains and rose over gorges. The speed limit at the SCTEx, as with any true expressway, is 100kph. But Pedestrian Pinoy, who is a stickler for rules and true to form, was only a passenger, has seen many other vehicles zoom past at incredible velocity. Admittedly though, even at a top speed of slightly over 110kph, neither a pebble nor a bump was felt. But that is neither an invitation nor a temptation to race! Although the stretch of the expressway is frequently patrolled, there have been no apprehensions yet for over-speeding, although accidents as a result of such have taken place (and Pedestrian Pinoy has witnessed this). Also, reports of stoning incidents have been made by some travelers.

The cost per kilometer for a class 1 vehicle is P2.00. So a trip from the Mabalacat Interchange all the way to the Subic Tipo Gate will cost P112.00. This is apart from the toll fee along NLEx, and another P18.00 to enter Subic.

Here are some photos taken during a weekend trip to Subic:

The SCTEx is an amazing piece of infrastructure, a world-class highway which the Filipino richly deserves. It will hopefully inspire further economic growth north of Manila, and should be a standard for all future public works.

MRT-3 to borrow trains from the LRTA

The Business Mirror reported yesterday that the DOTC intends to borrow 40 trains from the LRTA to fill up the shortage of the MRT-3. This option is being explored because according to DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza, the cost of new coaches is prohibitive, and that delivery of newly-purchased trains would take time. 

Now Pedestrian Pinoy is not sufficiently informed of the precise dimensions of the trains of either the LRT-1 or that of the MRT-3, and despite the similarities -- they both run on rails and are powered by overhead cables -- based on experience, the design and size of these carriages are not even remotely alike. Take a look at these photos of the interior of the trains:

Secretary Mendoza admits this when he said that the LRT-1 coaches need to be converted to fit the MRT-3 tracks. "The LRT cars are slightly different from the MRT-3 coaches." Perhaps Secretary Mendoza's knowledge of the our elevated railways isn't so different from that of Pedestrian Pinoy's.

Nevertheless, this proposal begs further questions: will the MRT-3 borrow LRT-1's new coaches? Or the vintage, pre-1990s trains? Also, does the LRT-1 enjoy such a huge surplus of trains that it is actually in a position to lend its cars to the MRT-3? 

Barely a decade into full operation, the MRT-3 has breached its riding capacity. It is the usual story of many of our mass-based transport facilities: the absolute lack of foresight and incredible if not ill-advised cutbacks (whether as a result of extraordinary inflation or illegal kickbacks) have affected design and possibilities for future growth and redevelopment. The options that are now being explored to address the manifold of problems besetting the MRT Corp. are, at the very least, disconcerting. In the end, it is the riding public that suffers as a result of the government's incompetence and the private sector's failures.

Highway to Hell

The recent incident that involved a pre-dawn race between two buses resulting in a smash-up that ignited a Mercedes Benz and which claimed the life of an eye doctor and injured four others has been used, quite effectively, to criticize the "reckless" and "irresponsible" statement made by MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando that there are no speed limits along EDSA.

Today's editorial on the Inquirer quite accurately explains the reality which may have confused Chairman Fernando: that EDSA is a highway in name only. It is, in fact, like any other street in Metro Manila: choked at certain points by intersections and littered by commuting pedestrians.

But the critics of Chairman Fernando, obviously laying the groundwork for the destruction of his presidential dreams, tend to overlook one simple fact: that vehicles, and commuter buses in particular, have been running at dangerous speeds along EDSA in the hours between midnight and sunrise, long before this statement was made. Bus drivers did not take their cue from Chairman Fernando; a thoroughfare with hardly any cars inspires the inner racer in all of us.

Of course, this is not to be tolerated. Pedestrian Pinoy has found himself suddenly religious, and uttering a silent prayer during such odd-hour bus rides along EDSA. During normal hours (say from after dawn till before midnight), the sheer density of vehicles along EDSA itself regulates traffic, that there is just no way any car can travel beyond 60kph. But outside of this window, speed demons should be exorcised. Whether we would find angels in the MMDA, still remains to be seen.

Pedestrian Observations

Welcome to Pedestrian Pinoy's Philippine Infrastructure Blog.

This website will seek to update the reader of ongoing developments as well as relevant issues related to Philippine infrastructure, such as mass-based transportation facilities, architecture and design, public works and thoroughfares, as well as ongoing construction and development.

Not being an engineer, an architect, or an urban planner, Pedestrian Pinoy is not an expert on most of the topics that will be featured. His goal is to share his sidewalk observations on matters which affect not just experts, but everyone.

Readers are also invited to share their views, ideas, knowledge, links, and photos. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos appearing on this blog were taken by Pedestrian Pinoy. Where applicable, intellectual property rights will be given due recognition: sources will be credited and original works will be used only with permission.

While Pedestrian Pinoy believes that infrastructure is a good indication of progress and civilization, it is clearly not the only means of determining how far our nation has gone. This blog is a venue for discussion, and is Pedestrian Pinoy's contribution to helping the Filipino nation.