SENATOR Ralph Recto asked the government to be forthright to the Filipino people by disclosing that the P15 billion price tag for the privatization of Metro Rail Transit-Light Rail Transit (MRT-LRT) is actually a “pay-out” to the winning private bidder and not the other way around.

“The people, before any translation is lost, should be informed that the P15-billion price tag for the bundled MRT-LRT privatization is the amount that government will pay to the winning bidder and not the amount that it would earn from the transaction,” Recto pointed out.

The senator said this simply means that the first project under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program would instantly cost the government some P15 billion, instead of deriving fresh revenues from its decision to let go two crucial mass transport rail systems.

Recto, who chairs the Senate ways and means committee, said the P15 billion would be paid by government to the winning bidder, which would operate and maintain the MRT-LRT lines.

“We will pay them P15 billion to operate the rail lines plus perhaps they would avail of tax holidays, cheap loans from state banks and an almost sure option to jack up fare prices,” he said.

Recto nevertheless said under the O&M contract (operate and maintain), the winning private operator is not obligated to pour in new money in terms of additional rolling stocks or coaches and rail infrastructure.