Sy family to Sec. Abaya: You can build the common station anywhere, so long as it's named 'SM'

Sy family to Sec. Abaya: You can build the common station anywhere, so long as it's named 'SM'

MANILA - The government can build the common station for the LRT1 and MRT3 anywhere it wants, but the facility will have to be named after SM, according to the son of the Philippines' richest man and owner of the country's biggest chain of shopping malls.

"Okay lang whatever decision may come, basta naming rights is ours," SM Prime Holdings Inc president Hans Sy said today.

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya last Wednesday said the government has decided to ditch SM North Edsa as site for the common terminal of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and Light Rail Transit Line 1.

Instead of building it beside the SM mall in Quezon City, the government has opted to erect it alongside the Trinoma Mall because, according to Abaya, doing so would entail lower costs. MRT 3 ends in front of the Trinoma, which is owned by Ayala Land Inc (ALI).

SM Prime already paid state-run Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) P200 million for the "naming rights" of the common station, which would also connect the proposed MRT7. Abaya said the government may have to return the P200 million to the SM group.

The government has allotted P1.608 billion for the common station project.

At present, LRT1 runs from Baclaran to Roosevelt in Quezon City, while MRT3 from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

The planned MRT 7 will begin at Tala, Caloocan City, passing through Lagro and Fairview, Novaliches, Batasan, Diliman, Philcoa, before ending at Edsa corner North Avenue. The railway will serve an estimated two million commuters in the northern parts of Quezon and Caloocan cities.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/63005/sy-family-to-sec--abaya-you-can-build-the-common-station-anywhere-so-long-as-its-named-sm