Common station: Firms need franchise
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said companies who stand to benefit from the establishment of the common train station in Quezon City must first acquire a franchise from Congress.
Alvarez raised the issue of legislative franchises as the House Committee on Metropolitan Manila Development Authority called for a thorough review of the memorandum of agreement for the construction of the 12.8-billion common mass rail transit station at the intersection of EDSA, North Avenue and West Avenue.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, committee chairman, said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will be remiss in its duty to decongest Metro Manila traffic unless it can assure LRT and MRT riders who have their own vehicles they will be provided with free parking spaces in the shopping malls that stand to benefit from proposed infrastructure.
Castelo led the House panel in inspecting the site for the proposed station last Tuesday.
During the briefing by the DOTr, committee members called on government agencies not to pursue the project until legislative consultations have been completed.
Alvarez, a former transportation secretary, has aired deep misgivings about the project and believes the MOA signed by transportation officials and three of the country’s largest retail and beverage firms could be disadvantageous to the government. He said the three firms should be required to secure legislative franchises before being allowed to participate in a project involving public utilities.
Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy chided proponents of the project for not consulting the city government and residents in nearby communities who might suffer the brunt of the environment and peace and order problems arising from the operation of the common station.
Herrera-Dy told DOTr officials headed by Assistant Secretary Cesar Chavez that they “failed to consider the impact of a project on people in the area who will have to face problems of drainage and sewer output, garbage and even security.”
Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon supported Castelo’s demand for the use of parking spaces in commercial centers that want a piece of the business that will be brought by the common station.