POSTSCRIPT
By Federico D. Pascual Jr.
The Philippine Star
The Philippine Star
SHOWDOWN: The Supreme Court is under intense attack as an institution. Much of the bombardment appears to be coming from the direction of Malacañang and its allies.
Although the Executive and the Judiciary are supposed to be co-equal branches of a tripartite system, the fight looks lopsided.
Versus the billions at the disposal of Malacañang for propaganda, the Supreme Court has a measly sum for public information. Against the Palace’s panel of spokespersons, a network of information officers all over the bureaucracy, not to mention its mouthpieces imbedded in the media, the SC has only its Court Administrator doubling as spokesperson.
While the President has at his beck and call the armed forces, the national police and the National Bureau of Investigation, the Supreme Court has only its sheriffs and process servers to enforce its rulings and orders.
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ERODED RESPECT: The stakes are high. If it is unable to withstand the attack, the Supreme Court as an institution could be reduced to irrelevance. Its controversial decisions could end up routinely defied by losing parties who have the means to put up an extrajudicial fight.
The open defiance by no less than the Justice Secretary of one of the Court’s recent orders has far-reaching implications. Its repeated failure to compel obedience results in the diminution of judicial power and influence all the way down to the lower courts.
If the attack on the credibility of the Court succeeds, decisions with high political impact or that go against the interests of influential parties could be challenged in the streets by mobs-for-hire as they are heckled in a contrived Court of Public Opinion.
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SC SHORTCOMINGS: The Supreme Court is partly to blame for its vulnerability.
For instance, its flip-flopping on high-profile cases raises the question of what it takes — aside from invoking the law — to win a case or reverse a decision that has long become final and executory.
It is unfair to the institution or to its majority, but the unsavory reputation of a few of its members stain the collective image of the tribunal.
The Supreme Court must be saved — from itself and from its unreasonable detractors — and strengthened as an institution.
To allow the psychological collapse of this third leg of government would be disastrous for the country. Who will move to save it as an institution?
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UPGRADING MRT: Most MetroRail commuters who must endure the daily hassles of coming and going do not care much who owns the rail system on Epifanio delos Santos Ave. so long as they get efficient, safe and affordable service.
The Department of Transportation and Communications is known to be the operator of MRT 3 despite papers pointing to Metro Pacific Investments Corp as the controlling bloc in Metro Rail Transit Corp., the legal owner of MRT 3.
Transportation and Communication Secretary Mar Roxas is reportedly set to recommend to President Aquino the handing over of full control of the MRT line to the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan so they can quickly address operations problems.
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MPIC PROPOSAL: The DoTC Secretary was reported earlier as considering spending P4.5 billion from government coffers to buy 26 new coaches for the MRT to increase capacity by a third.
At the same time, he was reported to be also studying MPIC’s proposal to infuse $300 million to upgrade MRT. This jibes with government’s move to hand over major infrastructure to more capable private hands while saving public funds.
Under MPIC’s proposal, it will spend $300 million to improve the line’s power system and bring in new coaches to double commuter capacity.
The company has also pledged to acquire the remaining government shares in MRT held by state lenders Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines.
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PPP IDEA: But MPIC wants the MRT concession extended by an additional 15 years to give it more time to recover its investment.
In a proposal presented to President Aquino early this month, MPIC committed to invest in MRT3 a total of $600 million in private capital.
The proposal will lay the groundwork for a Public-Private-Partnership arrangement wherein a private corporation operates the line, expands capacity, and pays concession fees. For its part, the government will regulate the fares, takes on the current and future real property tax liabilities and acts as regulator.
The MRT has a capacity of 350,000 passengers a day, but about half a million actually ride its trains. This has led to frequent breakdowns. While its ridership has grown, the system has not seen any major improvement since it started operations 12 years ago.
The government puts in an annual subsidy of P7 billion and incurs operating expenses running to P2 billion. Because of the huge financial drain, its operators can hardly keep up with its growing maintenance needs, much less an upgrade.
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ALTERNATIVE: Another option presented by MPIC is for it to buy the shares held by state financial institutions, or 23.4 percent of the common shares of Metro Rail Transit Holdings-I, which owns 84.9 percent of MRTH-II, and 2.4 percent of the common shares of MRTH-II.
As a backgrounder, MRTC is 100-percent owned by Metro Rail Transit Holdings-II, which in turn is owned by Metro Rail Transit Holdings-I (84.9 percent), Fil-Estate Properties Inc. (8.7 percent), Fil Estate Corp. (4 percent), Railway Systems Holdings Co. Inc. (1.4 percent), Rapid Urban Transit Holdings Inc. (1 percent), and other smaller shareholders.
Both Railway Systems Holdings Co. Inc. and Rapid Urban Transit Holdings Inc. are reportedly owned by DBP and/or LandBank.
If the buyout happens, a new build-lease-transfer agreement will be signed to reduce or remove the equity rental payments. The ERPs make up the bulk of the government’s payment to MRTC. Just last year the DOTC paid P7.87 billion, of which P5.29 billion represented ERP.
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FOLLOWUP: Access POSTSCRIPTs at www.manilamail.com. Follow us at Twitter.com/@FDPascual. E-mail to fdp333@yahoo.com.
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