Giving importance to public convenience

The ink had just barely dried when the court stepped in with a temporary restraining order.

This is such an old story, the latest victim being the Department of Transportation and Communications and China-based Dalian Locomotives for the supply of those much-needed additional coaches for the light rail transit system.

It is understandable why Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, as well as officials of Dalian, were just too dumbfounded when the TRO was issued by a Makati City court in favor of Metro Rail Transit Corp., the original contractor for the Metro Rail Transit 3 project.

MRTC contended that it had preferential rights to supply the coaches. Perhaps so, but the process undertaken by DOTC had been transparent and thorough enough to give MRTC enough time to raise this issue and constructively responded. Why only at the last minute? And why so hostile?

We blame our courts for the slow and delaying pace of cases, and sometimes for meddling in issues it does not have any competence in, but shouldn’t we also be concerned about the actions of business entities that put their interests over and above the public well-being?

Economic sabotage

Businesses that show no compassion for the plight of commuters, who line up under the heat of the sun just to get a ride going to work or back to their homes using the light rail train system, need to be crucified. This is almost akin to economic sabotage.

Had this TRO not been issued, we could comfortably have been looking forward within the next two years to seeing more trains moving on the MRT 3 line, and serving more people who only want to be able to get to their jobs and back home to their families the quickest and most efficient way.

While business should be concerned about their bottom lines, they should also be responsible corporate citizens that value the welfare of their host country’s people as much as their shareholders and partners.

Corporate social responsibility is not just giving aid to the victims of catastrophes and disasters, or being model employers to the people who depend on them for their salaries. The true cavalier spirit of exemplary corporate existence is being unequivocally responsible for society.

Exploring other options

Now that the TRO has been issued, there is a need to explore other options should this become a full-blown court case that could drag on for years. Here’s a suggestion by one of our readers, albeit seemingly partial to MRTC, which if I recall correctly, is part of MRT Holdings. Fernando Anluagui writes:

“We enjoin MRT Holdings to confirm if they can supply additional second hand light rail vehicle (LRV) from their previous Czech suppliers without additional cost for the government who initially supplied the existing LRVs (light rail vehicles) now being used from their EDSA MRT operation.

“DOTC which contracted Dalian Locomotive Co. to supply 48 new LRVs which is now being questioned by MRT Holdings and is subject to a TRO.

“We anticipate that this wrangle between DOTC and MRT Holdings will not be resolved soonest, hence we enjoin both DOTC and MRT Holdings to agree in one aim to alleviate the inconvenience the millions of daily road and rail commuters along EDSA who will now face additional inconvenience as the Skyway connector road from Buendia to Balintawak and additional MRT projects are now starting at the same time.

“If the officials of DOTC are patriotic enough to serve the people of Metro Manila honestly and with care, they should agree now to coordinate with MRT Holdings and obtain second hand LRVs from Czech suppliers if still available while sorting out where to obtain the new generation LRVs even if they should come from hell.

“We anticipate an honest to goodness return negotiation with the DOTC/MRT administrator and Czech ambassador to the Philippines together with MRT Holdings to come up with a win-win solution for all.”

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.