Bid or No Bid

 The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has declared a failure of bidding for the P2.2-billion maintenance contract for the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) after no bidders showed up.

MRT-3 and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) spokesman Hernando Cabrera said the government is now reviewing the terms of reference of the three-year maintenance contract due to the issues raised by prospective bidders.

DOTC management must be transfer to a qualified individual except inefficient Abaya. Bidding of MRT maintenance must initiate by the like of Secretary Singson of DPWH a trusted and credible cabinet member of Aquino government.  The prospective bidders know for sure there is 10 to 25 percent to give back under the table to be able to win the contract. Besides the amount appropriated is too low for them to do the job of proper maintenance.  I think they should get another new set of bidders and disqualify those who bought bidding form but did not bid, it is a form of sabotage.  It’s hard to find businessmen who will dare invest in this business. Why would they bid and invest their money if they  will be on the losing end? You cannot decide on the DOTC is always breathing on their necks when they don’t even know what to do.

Lest we forget that the DOTC under Mar Roxas and then Jun Abaya attempted to hold a bidding back in 2012, but it was delayed time and again until Jun Abaya declared that there was no more time and thus invoked emergency powers (a move the Ombudsman now questions) to appoint PH Trams, and later its parent company APT Global as maintenance providers. We have to be vigilant that they are not intentionally making the new contract so unpalatable to bidders that none of them participate, thus providing Abaya another excuse to delay.

The owner of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) is calling on the government to coordinate with the private owners of the MRT 3 to provide a safer and more efficient railway system for the public . Fil-Estate head Roberto Sobrepeña, the former chairman of MRT Corp. (MRTC), said private companies that own the MRT Holdings are open to a dialogue with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on how to address technical issues, as well as congestion woes, that have been hounding the 15-year-old system.

They are actually completely cut off, out of the loop. That’s the big problem. That’s why it got into this kind of situation according to Bob Sobrepena, . They used to attend their meetings every month in 2012 and before that. All the maintenance meetings,they were part of it. Sumitomo Mitsubishi, their maintenance provider, was doing an excellent job at maintaining it. They didn’t have all these problems then.