GCash, the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines, is enabling commuters to pay for their EDSA bus fares through their GCash e-wallets, as it continues to strongly support government initiatives in curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Through its partnership with AF Payments Inc., the operator of tap-and-go contactless beepTM card and payments systems, GCash is empowering its users to use their mobile wallets to safely pay for their bus fares, particularly the EDSA route.
To pay for their bus fares, GCash users simply have to generate a QR code from their app and have it scanned using the beepTM handheld terminal. This reduces the need for cash handling and limits face-to-face interaction between transport personnel and commuters.
“As a strong government partner, GCash has always been supportive of the government since day one. We believe that through our platform, we are able to help the government reduce the spread of the virus and provide commuters with a safe, secure, and very convenient way of paying for their transport needs,” GCash VP and Head of Payments Jovitt Bajar said.
The government has cautiously opened the public transport sector in the past few weeks, declaring that areas under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) may restart the plying of public transport means for commuters.
The Department of Transportation-Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (DOTr-LTFRB) also required transport operators and drivers to implement contactless payments to ensure the safety of both passengers and drivers. Last week, the department announced that it is partnering with GCash for cashless payment for taxis.
Paper money is found to harbor viruses and bacteria just like any other surface, and the World Health Organization (WHO) advised people to properly wash their hands after handling cash to avoid the risk of contracting diseases, including COVID-19, from banknotes.
“Cashless is really the future, and it is being accelerated at an unprecedented pace due to the pandemic. As a pioneer and leader in the fintech space, we at GCash are ready to support the growing demand for digital payments solutions, especially in crucial services such as public transport,” Bajar said.
Today, there are over 25 million GCash users that enjoy various financial services such as bills payment to over 400 billers, physical payments to more than 75,000 merchants, online payments, fund transfers, and airtime load top ups. GCash also democratized access to other financial tools such as savings, credit, insurance, and investments all in one mobile app.
Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash, is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom Inc.
GCash is available for download on the App Store and Google Play. For more information, kindly visit https://www.gcash.com/.
Amid the recent announcement of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to extend the test run for motorcycle taxis for another six months and include new motorcycle taxi companies supposedly as per the recommendation of the previously convened technical working group (TWG), original members of the TWG who were not included in the decision-making process for this sought the intervention of Congress and Senate to exclude the new players from participating in the extension.
Certain members of the TWG constituted in December of 2018 were taken by surprise with the recent news from the DOTr stating that the TWG already decided to extend the motorcycle taxi test run and include six new motorcycle taxi players.
The excluded TWG member has also called on Congress and the Senate, from which the original directives to conduct a technical working group assessment last year came, to look carefully into the matter.
In a press briefing, Toix Cerna, spokesperson of the commuters’ group Komyut, revealed, “Since August, we have been seeking for the TWG to be convened to discuss the initial data, and experience of Angkas, but to no avail.” Cerna added, “Our task was also to monitor and assess the results of the pilot so that we are informed of what to recommend for the legislative measures pending in Congress.”
Raymond Gascon of Move Metro Manila said in a separate statement, “In principle we agree with the need for the motorcycle taxi safety protocols to be extended to and applied to other motorcycle taxi service providers. Competition is good and should be a welcome development. We are just concerned with the process through which this decision was made without us having been call into a meeting at all.”
Move Metro Manila is a group of policy advocates organizing policy discussions on mobility.
In turn, Atty. Ariel Inton of the Lawyers for Commuter Safety and Protection (LCSP), also a member of the TWG, revealed, “Since the start of the pilot run, I have never been invited to meetings and discussions and now I heard that they have decided on something critical, which is not only irregular but rather suspicious and unacceptable.”
Inton added, “And it seems this exclusion from the recent decision-making process also involves many other critical members of the TWG and we are just wondering why this was the case.”
The LCSP earlier filed a petition for injunction with application for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction against five motorcycle taxi companies: We Move Things Philippines Inc. (Joyride), Habal Rides Corp., I-Sabay, Sampa-Dala Corp., and Trans-Serve Corp. The petition stated that their operations are unauthorized and may cause grave and substantial damage to the public.
“Our objective in the LCSP is to ensure the safety and protection of the riding public,” Inton, a former Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) member, said. “And we are worried that the new motorcycle players who will join the test run may just endanger the lives of commuters because they do not have the same stringent safety standards as what the riding public has been accustomed to in the initial test run,” he added.
“We in the LCSP call on the DOTr to ensure that the welfare of the riding public is given priority by ensuring that the new players the agency is considering to include in the announced test run extension undergo a thorough review and assessment much like what the TWG did back then for Angkas,” Inton stressed.
“We have requested an immediate restraining order to prevent grave and irreparable damage to the riding public in general, and to the pilot program in particular,” stressed Atty. Raymond Fortun of LCSP declared. “Moreover, any accident during this critical period will also sabotage the pilot program,” he added.
Early this year, the House of Representatives passed Resolution No. 2449 urging the DoTr to implement a pilot program allowing, monitoring, and regulating the operation of duly registered and organized motorcycles-for-hire as an alternative public transport utility.
The DoTr then instructed various agencies to form a Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of stakeholders and experts from the government and the private sector to discuss issues attendant to the prospect of two-wheel vehicles operating as public transport.
The TWG was tasked to identify motorcycle types eligible to be licensed, taking into consideration factors like engine displacement, carrying capacity, operating speeds, routes, seat and helmet requirements, and training requirements for drivers, who will eventually need to obtain a public utility vehicle (PUV) registration.
Upon the recommendation of the TWG, the DoTr allowed the six-month pilot test for motorcycle taxi operations in the Philippines starting in July of this year. Since only the motorcycle ride-hailing app Angkas had been established and operating with an eight-month track record at the time, Angkas became the sole subject of the pilot program which will end in December.
"Three months to the pilot could have been a good time for the House and Senate to hear the proposed bills already, using initial results," noted Jason Salvador, Managing Director of LEADER (Legal Engagement Advocating for Development and Reform). "The pilot was just for a period of six months. After that, what will happen to the commuters?" he added.
Inton, Cerna, Gascon, and the rest of the excluded TWG members are asking for greater transparency in the TWG’s procedures and asking Congress and Senate to intervene in this regard. “Transparency in the decision-making process of the TWG is very important so that the decisions do not look suspect,” noted Gascon “It is very curious that at this crucial stage in the TWG, non-government members were completely sidelined,” he added.
Inton also asked why the DOTr is planning to extend the test run. "Why are they extending it? If they are convinced that the test run was successful, why not just direct the Congress to come up with a law to regulate this service?" Inton asked.
To give the public another option to beat traffic, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3) Office will extend the operating hours of the metropolis’ most utilized urban rail transit system starting on 24 February 2014.
The longer hours of service will be tested for one month to determine whether it will be viable in the long run.
“This is part of our program to mitigate the traffic situation. Based on the test run, we will monitor how much passengers are willing to alter their riding habits by commuting earlier in the morning or later in the evening. We will also see whether this will encourage motorists to take the train instead of their cars,” said DOTC SpokespersonMichael Arthur Sagcal.
Currently, the rail system’s regular hours of operation are from 5:30am to 10:30pm. For the first 2 work weeks, or from February 24 until March 7, the MRT-3 Office will start operations at 4:30am from the North Avenue station and 5:00am from the Taft Avenue station.
In the 2 following work weeks, or from March 10 to 21, it will also extend the evening runs up to 10:30pm from the North Avenue station and 11:00pm from the Taft Avenue station, in addition to the earlier opening hours.
After the 4-week testing period, the MRT-3 Office will make its recommendation to the DOTC on whether the extended operating hours may be regularized, based on its impact on commuters, daily train maintenance requirements, and the additional cost of operation.
“Our limitations are on maintenance and costs. For maintenance, the coaches have to be checked every night to ensure safety. It seems that we will be able to shorten the turnover process without compromising actual maintenance hours. As for costs, the testing period will allow us to project how much more we need to spend to make it sustainable over time,” Sagcal explained.
“As always, we are looking for ways to serve the public better. We want to deliver convenient, efficient, and safe transportation options, especially with government’s push to improve infrastructure over the next few years,” he added.
The DOTC has previously announced that the Philippine National Railways (PNR) will begin its Special Coach service to ply the Tutuban to Sta. Rosa route as another mitigating step to help ease traffic. Together with the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), it is now also finalizing options through which LRT Lines 1 and 2 can accommodate more travellers who will be affected by the various construction works in Metro Manila.
With Metro Manila traffic expected to worsen further over the next few years due to the implementation of multiple infrastructure projects, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is hoping that it will finally be allowed to add 48 brand new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) to the Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3) system at the soonest possible time.
“We hope that the order preventing us from adding brand new LRVs will be lifted immediately, for the public’s sake. The DOTC will be able to increase MRT-3’s capacity within 2 to 3 years starting from the time that the court allows us to proceed. Since more passengers will be able to take the train, EDSA traffic should be mitigated considerably,” said DOTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal.
The transport agency’s MRT-3 Capacity Expansion Project involves the purchase of 48 brand new LRVs through an open and transparent bidding process conducted last year. After the contract was awarded to China’s Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company in January, however, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati issued a Temporary Order of Protection (TOP) to halt the process.
The Project will increase MRT-3’s trips per hour from 20 to 24, which will translate to a 60% increase in the number of passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD). This means that, from the current 23,640 people who can avail of the rail service every hour heading towards one direction, the Project will make it possible for 37,824 passengers to enjoy this convenience.
Currently, the rail line’s average daily ridership is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000. The Project will not only help ease the gridlock on EDSA, it will also make the MRT-3 experience much more bearable for its riders.
Sagcal clarified that “the Project will take 2 to 3 years to complete because the LRVs will still be manufactured. A prototype will be tested on the system within 12 to 18 months, followed by the delivery of 3-4 units per succeeding month. This means that traffic decongestion can already start by 2015. All we’re waiting for is the court’s go signal.”
On 30 January 2014, the Makati RTC issued the TOP in favor of MRT Holdings II, Inc., which claims to own and control 100% of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC). MRTC owns the MRT facilities pursuant to its 1997 concession agreement with government.
MRTC’s Board of Directors has since confirmed that the filing of this injunctive suit was unauthorized, and the DOTC has pointed out that it has no contractual relationship with MRT Holdings II.
The transportation department believes that it has sufficient legal grounds to proceed with the addition of new LRVs in line with public interest. The Project is urgently needed after MRTC failed to add any LRVs to the rail system despite DOTC’s demands for it do so since 2007.
(From the Department of Transportation and Communications dotc.gov.ph)
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is ready to defend public interest and argue its case on the need to add forty-eight (48) new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) to the Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3)system at 2:00pm today, before the Regional Trial Court of Makati.
Acting on a petition filed by Metro Rail Transit Holdings II, Inc., the court issued a 20-day Temporary Order of Protection on 30 January 2014, preventing the transport agency from going ahead with the Project.
While having no contractual relationship, the DOTC says that MRT Holdings II should be held accountable for Metro Rail Transit Corporation’s (MRTC) failure to add much-needed train coaches to the rail line, after it claimed to own 100% of MRTC.
“Passenger safety and convenience demand that the project proceed immediately. MRTC has received over P 35.2 Billion in equity rental payments since 2000. Yet it has added zero LRVs, knowing full well that MRT-3 has been operating beyond capacity for years. MRT Holdings II must answer the obvious question: why hasn’t it added LRVs to MRT-3 all this time?” said DOTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal.
The rail transit line has an original design capacity of only 350,000 passengers per day. According to current MRT-3 data, it is already averaging 560,000 passengers daily, and its highest recorded number of single-day riders has reached 620,000.
Government has made the following equity rental payments to MRTC since 2000, pursuant to the Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) agreement:
YEAR
PAYMENT IN US DOLLARS
PH PESO EQUIVALENT
YEAR
PAYMENT IN US DOLLARS
PH PESO EQUIVALENT
2000
9,166,665
448,515,054.70
2007
39,999,996
1,754,820,860.36
2001
9,999,996
519,220,323.88
2008
39,999,996
1,844,433,054.49
2002
9,999,996
520,304,865.70
2009
44,583,333
2,108,191,434.15
2003
19,166,670
1,064,526,731.07
2010
118,333,337
5,255,041,829.44
2004
20,000,004
1,121,338,123.04
2011
129,583,330
5,620,838,651.65
2005
38,333,330
2,005,689,396.15
2012
129,999,996
5,482,319,022.33
2006
39,999,996
1,877,620,456.23
2013
129,999,996
5,580,144,026.22
These payments total USD 779,166,641.00 or P 35,203,003,829.41.
“Those are the numbers: P 35.2 Billion paid to MRTC; more than 560,000 passengers daily; zero trains added to the system. Despite all of this, MRT Holdings II is asking the court to stop the DOTC from improving MRT-3’s services,” Sagcal added.
To end government’s obligation to continue making equity rental payments to MRTC until 2025 while the latter effectively blocks efforts to improve MRT-3 services, an Equity Value Buy-Out of MRTC is already being prepared by the Department of Finance pursuant to Executive Order No. 126, series of 2013.
As to the maintenance of the MRT-3 system, it is MRTC’s obligation under the BLT agreement to provide such services. However, MRTC allowed its previous contract with maintenance provider Sumitomo of Japan to lapse in 2010, after which it engaged Sumitomo’s services with short-term contracts only.
The DOTC acted promptly and stepped in to ensure the safety of the riding public, by first engaging a maintenance provider through an emergency procurement, followed by the regular procurement of a longer-term maintenance service provider last year.
SM Consortium, led by SM Investments Corp. with members BDO Capital and Investment Corp., Advanced Card Systems Ltd. and Penta Capital Investment Corp., is confident of a favorable result in the ongoing financial evaluation of the MRT/LRT Automated Fare Collection System Project.
“With no cost to the government to build and modernize the ticketing system and a one-time concession fee of P1,088,000,000 to be paid to the government unconditionally, we believe that our proposal is most advantageous to the government and the riding public,” said Norman T. Pe, senior vice president of Penta Capital.
The Department of Transportation and Communication is now evaluating the proposals of the three bidders – AF Consortium led by BPI, SM Consortium and Comworks Berjaya Consortium – which passed the technical proposal stage.
“SM, the country’s largest retail chain, will be able to maximize the potential of this innovation through the wide retail acceptance and other applications,” added Denny Wong, chairman of Advanced Card Systems Ltd of Hongkong.
The winning bidder will be announced before Dec. 24 and notice to proceed is expected to be issued in the third week of January 2014.
Effective immediately, printed tickets no longer mandatory at airports.
"This is another simple step to improve access to basic government services," the DOJ said. "We shall continue to work with all stakeholders to inject common sense and process logic into our systems."
The Bureau of Immigration and Deportation will no longer require passengers to present printed copies of their plane tickets as mandated by the Department of Justice (DOJ)
This is in line with the recent order (Operations Order No. 2013-003) from DOJ entitled Removing the Requirement of Presentation of the Printed Hard Copy of Return and/or Onward Passage Ticket which allows air passengers to use E-Tickets displayed on a mobile device such as smartphones and/or tablets in lieu of hard copies of the ticket.
The new ruling applies for all international airports around the country including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Maintenance provider and magnetic ticket supply contracts at stake
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is about to conduct bid evaluation and post-qualification exercises for two key projects for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 System, namely: the P712-Million MRT-3 System Temporary Maintenance Provider Project and the P 25-million Supply & Delivery of MRT-3 Magnetic Ticket Project.
According to their report, after opening the eligibility documents of three groups which vied for the one-year Maintenance project on June 3, 2013, the DOTC’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) found only one proponent, Autre Porte Technique (or “APT”) Global, Inc., to have qualified for the next stages of the bidding process.
DOTC spokesperson Migs Sagcal said that APT Global submitted a bid in the amount of around P 685 Million. Financial proposals of the two other interested groups were no longer opened after they were found to be ineligible.
The disqualified groups were Asiaphil Manufacturing Industries, Inc. in Joint Venture with Korea Railroad, which did not comply with sealing and marking requirements of Republic Act No. 9184 (the Procurement Law); and Commbuilders & Technology Philippines Corporation, which failed to submit a certificate of satisfactory performance.
“Unfortunately, it once more came down to two groups’ failure to comply with the bid requirements. Time and again, we have said that the DOTC-BAC can do nothing but to follow the Procurement Law, which prohibits it from exercising discretion” Sagcal added.
As for the magnetic ticket supply project, only the current MRT-3 contractor submitted a proposal during the bid opening conducted on May 30, 2013. The Transport agency disclosed that Banner Plasticard, Inc. offered to supply and deliver 4,252,000 magnetic tickets to the DOTC-MRT3 in the amount of P 25 million.
The financial proposals of the eligible bidders for both projects will now undergo detailed evaluation, after which their bids will be subjected to postqualification exercises.
The relatively short duration of these projects—one year for the Maintenance contract and thirty (30) days for the Ticket Supply contract—is partly due to the eventual buyout of the owner of the MRT-3 facilities pursuant to Executive Order No. 126 issued by President Benigno S. Aquino III last March, as well as the transition to an Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS), now being bid out by the DOTC as a Public-Private Partnership Project, by the first quarter of 2015.
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) made an agreement paving the way for a world-class aviation system in the Philippines, ensuring the availability of CNS/ATM (Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management) Systems within two-and-a-half years.
Under a Contract Amendment signed last week between the DOTC and the Sumitomo-Thales Joint Venture, the latter will immediately restart the construction of an air traffic management building and the supply of various components such as automation equipment and terminal radars, to enable the use of the satellite technology-based system.
The original contract between the parties was signed in December 2010, but was disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) in May 2011. After a review of its concerns, however, the COA lifted the disallowance in March 2013.
The DOTC and the Joint Venture then worked on the Contract Amendment in order to update the project timeline, scope of works, and prices, to allow the project to proceed.
The state-of-the-art CNS/ATM Systems will modernize aviation safety and security capabilities, increase airport capacity, and minimize flight delays and aircraft collisions by providing safety alerts and warnings, managing the use of the airspace and air traffic flow, and enhancing the communications and monitoring capabilities of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
“This project will bring the country closer to the highest of international aviation safety standards. Ultimately, it will also result in more revenues for the government, bolster the country’s tourism goals, and lower pollution emission levels through efficient air traffic management,”said DOTC spokesperson Migs Sagcal.
Sagcal added that Secretary of Transportation and Communications Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya secured the joint venture’s reassurance that the CNS/ATM Systems will be fully in place within President Benigno S. Aquino III’s term, or by November 2015.
The CNS/ATM Systems Development Project was first conceptualized in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Global Air Navigation Plan, and will replace aging vital communications, surveillance, and air traffic control equipment at selected airports nationwide.
