MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Thursday that it aims to deploy the China-made Dalian trains on the MRT-3 line by the middle of 2025 after years of being idle.

Speaking to ABS-CBN News at the sidelines of a Senate hearing, DOTr Assistant Secretary Jorjette Aquino said the agency is more keen on making use of the controversial trains rather than returning them to Chinese manufacturer CRRC Dalian to decongest the EDSA railway, which is also precisely the reason why the additional trains were procured in 2014.

“Ang direction talaga is gamitin sana because it will provide us additional capacity of 200,000 (passengers) per day. Right now, our capacity is at around 418,000 and we are now averaging a daily ridership of around 380,000… Punong-puno na ang MRT-3,” said Aquino, who also serves as Officer-in-Charge of the MRT-3.

“If we return the Dalian trains, it will take a minimum of five to seven years… bago dumating yung mga bagong trains na bibilhin, so it will mean five to seven years pang magtitiis ang ating mga mananakay,” she added.

According to the DOTr, the headway or the interval between each train’s arrival will also be reduced from the current four minutes to 2.5 minutes, if the Dalian trains are utilized.

But are they safe to use?

Transport officials laid that issue to rest during the inquiry of the Senate Committee on Public Services, led by Senator Raffy Tulfo.

The Dalian trains remain unused a decade after they were purchased by the previous Aquino administration over concerns that they are incompatible with the MRT-3 system since some technical specifications were not met.

But DOTr Undersecretary Jeremy Regino said the supplier has made the necessary adjustments on the trains at their own cost.

“The Dalian trains were assessed by a third-party certifying body, that is the TUV Rheinland. So may mga rekomendasyon si TUV Rheinland na dapat gawin ni Dalian upang maresolba yung mga technical issues… Ginawa naman po nila and, as a result of that, another test was conducted by another body, which is the Toshiba in Japan… Pumasa din sa final testing on safety worthiness ang mga Dalian,” explained Regino.

But Regino noted that the Dalian trains still need to be reevaluated then subjected to another series of testing and commissioning.

“The Dalian engineers are now assessing the condition of the spare parts kasi matagal po itong nakatengga... At kung meron kailangang palitan na spare parts, gagawin nila. At pagkatapos ay sisimulan na natin ang testing and commissioning,” he said.

Regino said CRRC Dalian has yet to give them a date as to when it will be able to finish checking on the spare parts.

Asked if it would be easier to just give the trains back and refund the more than P1 billion that has been partially paid to CRRC Dalian, Regino said that process would also entail some time and would come with its own set of uncertainties.

“Kung isasauli po natin, ang tanong po, tatanggapin po ba ng Dalian? How do we ship it out? Kaninong gastos po ito? May additional cost. The other thing is kung isasauli po natin, mababawi po ba natin yung more than P1 billion na nabayad na natin? Babagsak po tayo dito sa arbitration,” he said.

ARBITRATION

But regardless if the Dalian trains would be put to use or returned, the DOTr said the issue will still need to undergo arbitration in accordance with the Procurement Law.

“There's a legal aspect to it. Isa sa tinitignan natin is, if ever na mababayaran sila, it will be through money claim that CRRC Dalian would have to do through Commission on Audit. So sila ang magsasabi kung magkano ba dapat mabayaran, dapat ba silang bayaran, and up to what extent,” said Aquino.

The DOTr has yet to determine where to file the arbitration case but Regino said the procedure would be done locally.

GOING AFTER FORMER TRANSPORT OFFICIALS

Tulfo meanwhile urged incumbent transport officials to refile graft complaints against the former officials of the then-Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) who led procurement of the non-compliant Dalian trains.

The DOTr said that in 2017, it already filed cases against them, including former DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya, before the Ombudsman but these were eventually dismissed.  

“Wala namang double jeopardy sa Ombudsman, pwede nating i-refile yung kaso… Kasi alam naman ng mga DOTr dati na hindi compatible yung specs ng Dalian train doon sa rail system natin sa MRT and yet pinayagan pa rin nila, pinilit pa rin nila magka-kontrata at tinanggap pa talaga nung dumating,” said Tulfo.

The DOTr said it will consult with its legal team on how to go about refiling the cases.