QC RTC orders arbitration for DOTr-BURI dispute

Busan Universal Rail, Inc. (BURI), whose Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 maintenance contract has been scrapped by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), have both agreed to let an arbitration body settle their conflict although they have not yet agreed on the format, venue and other procedural matters.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City directed BURI and DOTr to go into arbitration via the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center (PDR) and procedures have started.

However, DOTr recently proposed that the case be transferred to the Singapore International Arbitration Center.

As of press time, both parties have several ongoing legal battles between them.

DOTr filed a case against former government personalities and BURI officials at the Office of the Ombudsman although BURI declared it has not yet received a copy of this latest complaint and the others filed before it.

BURI intends to expand the scope of arbitration to include the matters related to the termination of its MRT3 contract with the government, the company revealed in its press statement issued yesterday.

In addition, BURI filed a motion for reconsideration on DOTr’s Notice of Termination of its MRT3 maintenance contract.

The company cited “infirmities of the termination of its contract”, including DOTr’s failure to complete a prior arbitration required by law, the contract and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

It also cited “the lack of recommendation to terminate from the implementing unit – the MRT3 Management – as required under the law and the contract.”

The maintenance provider underscored that the latest incident of the MRT3 train’s decoupling “did not occur during the time of BURI’s service.”

The continuing glitches in the MRT 3 “prove BURI’s position that these are caused by design flaws in the train system and other system components, the bad condition of the rails, and overloading.”

“The rapid worsening of the MRT3 following DOTr’s takeover, however, show that the DOTr was not truly ready to assume BURI’s work,” according to the company’s press statement.

“The technical and management takeover teams’ performances must be monitored even more closely now.”

Both the train coupler and Messma machine (referred to as the train’s black box) that records train status and some driver reactions, undergo four important procedures, according to BURI.

As important components of the train, first, they are serviced as part of regular maintenance. Secondly, every night both components are included in the train preparation by many side-by-side workers supervised by yard engineers.

The third procedure is for MRT3 senior engineers to inspect and sign-off on the inspection documents that checklist its important components.

The fourth and final step consists of driver confirmation or train check. The components can only fail if the maintenance technical and management teams did not follow protocols or failed to their jobs.

Above all, “The DOTr is responsible for security at the depot.”

“Presently, BURI has no participation in all of the above steps. BURI denies any responsibility in the recent incidents of the MRT3 following the takeover of BURI’s contract by DOTr Undersecretary Cesar Chavez’s team in November 6, 2017, after which BURI has since been unceremoniously denied access to the depot.”

Furthermore, the train involved in the decoupling had completed a number of route loops before the incident that happened in the tunnel after the train left the station at which location there was no person on the tracks, BURI continued.

“Considering all of these, the nebulous suggestion of a supposed ‘sabotage’ is clearly a simple attempt of USec Chavez to evade answering the real issues regarding his team’s own failures in the takeover.”