Metro Cebu MRT project revival eyed under Aquino

Press Release
June 14, 2010

QUEZON CITY  –  Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas is hopeful that President-elect Benigno Aquino III's economic and transport planners would be more aggressive in fulfilling the proposed mass rail transit (MRT) system in Central Visayas' fastest-growing metropolis.

Gullas said he is counting on the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) under Aquino to quickly revive and finally carry out Metro Cebu's first modern, efficient and reliable MRT project.

"The system has become absolutely necessary to enable Cebu to keep pace with rapid population growth and economic expansion," Gullas said.

"The sooner the system is installed, the more economical for government, and the less costly for taxpayers as well as commuters," he said.

Gullas expressed confidence the MRT system would boost Cebu's economic productivity in a big way.

He also stressed that the MRT project and a separate proposal to roll out a bus rapid transport system "are not necessarily conflicted."

The two could be rolled out in a manner that they would complement and reinforce each other, rather than make one redundant, he pointed out.

For years, Gullas has been pushing for the MRT project to ease Metro Cebu's heavy motor vehicle traffic congestion.

He has gone to the extent to introducing a bill seeking to require the DOTC to prepare and execute a plan to establish and operate the system.

Cebu desperately needs a fast, safe, convenient and inexpensive MRT system, according to Gullas, a former provincial governor.

Preliminary estimates for the MRT project have ranged from P46 billion to P55 billion.

The DOTC previously forged a $1 billion build-operate-transfer agreement with the AMA Group of Holdings Corp. to build a 71-kilometer, three-phased MRT project in Metro Cebu.

The project would run through Metro Cebu from Carcar City in the south to Danao City in the north.

However, project performance has been stalled, because the DOTC has found it difficult to get lower offers from other private entities.