The compromise agreement for the construction of a common hub—or two—for the three overhead-railway systems in Metro Manila is nearing fruition, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said over the weekend.
“It seems that we are nearing the signing stage on that second common station,” he said, pertaining to the proposal of building another
station near SM North Edsa, a property owned by shopping-mall magnate Henry Sy Sr., to end the conflict with Ayala Corp.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has taken the initiative to find a win-win solution for SM and Ayala on
the common-station disagreement.
Still, it appears that the fate of the multibillion-peso common station is still hanging, based on Abaya’s statements pertaining to the actual plan of the government in pursuing this venture.
The transport chief admitted that he is unaware if SM Prime Holdings Inc. is keen on the proposal, but noted that what matters more is that the operators of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 7 and Light Rail
Transit (LRT) Line 1 are fine with the compromise.
“I think SM Group’s concern regarding the station is that they will have their own,” he said.
The details of where the alignment will be located, plus the design, are to be decided by Light Rail Manila Corp., the operator of LRT; and San Miguel Corp., the proponent of the future MRT 7, by virtue of the contracts signed with the government.
The common alignment, which aims to link the LRT 1, MRT 3 and MRT 7, has been in limbo ever since the DOTC reviewed the project’s technical and financial components years back.
This led to the change of the station’s location, which was initially set to be near SM North Edsa, earning the ire of the group of the country’s largest mall operator, which paid an initial P200 million for the naming rights of the station. Transportation officials have repeatedly said building the station near TriNoma is both economically and environmentally viable, as this would result in a lower cost and less urban blight.
SM Prime then brought its battle to the Supreme Court, which issued a stay order against the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority in 2014, enjoining them to stop
the transfer of the common
alignment’s location.
But it seems that the three companies are at odds as to their appetite on building two common stations.
Teresita T. Sy-Coson, an adviser to the board of SM Prime, earlier said her company is willing to compromise for the location of the common station, which is expected to bring additional foot traffic to the malls near the train systems in North Edsa, Quezon City. San Miguel even denied that it is in talks with the government with regard to the financing of the common station.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan was skeptical about the idea of building two hubs. Instead, he proposed that the common station be built between the two malls, which will be linked by a bridge to connect the passengers to whichever establishment they want to go. Metro Pacific is a major investor in Light Rail Manila.
The common-station project, which has an indicative cost of P1.4 billion, is just one of the deals that are caught between feuds among listed conglomerates.