METRO PACIFIC Investments Corp. (MPIC) will keep its stake in Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) after the federal government began settling billions of pesos in obligations to the private operator of Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), easing concerns over mounting losses.
LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Enrico R. Benipayo said MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) has decided to take care of the conglomerate’s holdings in the corporate.
“Yes, MVP will maintain the established order [in LRMC],” he told reporters on the sidelines of LRMC’s 10th anniversary on Thursday. “He’s blissful with the actions of the federal government.”
The choice follows moves by the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to secure a P3-billion loan from Land Bank of the Philippines to partially settle about P4 billion in obligations to LRMC. Of that quantity, about P3 billion represents fare deficit payments owed to the concessionaire.
LRTA earlier said it has paid P926 million to LRMC.
Mr. Pangilinan earlier said MPIC was considering divesting its stake, citing continuing losses and ridership that had yet to totally get well to pre-pandemic levels.
“We’re really blissful that they’re listening to us and so they are attempting to unravel whatever issues we’ve got,” Mr. Benipayo said.
LRMC took over operations and maintenance of LRT-1 in September 2015 under a P65-billion, 32-year concession agreement with LRTA and the Department of Transportation. Under the deal, the operator may petition for fare adjustments every two years.
In April 2025, the Transportation department approved LRMC’s fare hike petition, however the implemented rates were lower than what the corporate sought, leading to a fare deficit of about P2.17 billion.
Ridership has improved alongside system upgrades and the opening of the Cavite Extension Phase 1 in 2024, which added five stations to the road.
Mr. Benipayo said average each day ridership has reached about 440,000 passengers, near pre-pandemic levels of roughly 450,000 in 2019. He expects the road to average 450,000 each day riders by year-end.
Every day ridership had fallen to 350,000 to 370,000 in 2023, and stood at 323,000 in November 2024 before the Cavite extension opened.
MPIC holds a 35.8% stake in LRMC through Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. Other shareholders include Sumitomo Corp. and Macquarie Investments Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd. LRMC is a three way partnership of MPIC, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Sumitomo and Macquarie.
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