Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has welcomed the renewed commitment of President Ferdinand Marcos to modernize the country’s public transport system, as the congressman supported a government plan to bring back the suspended, foreign-funded flagship project on an over 600-kilometer (km) railway that will connect Metro Manila to Bicol and cut travel time between the two regions from the current half-day to just four hours.
Villafuerte is bullish on the revival of the stalled PNR South Long Haul project after President Marcos reassured the public a week ago that his government has been “working hard to improve the country’s transportation systems, operations, and management for the benefit of present and future generations.”
Bicol Railway was one of the flagship projects under then-President Duterte’s centerpiece infrastructure modernization initiative “Build, Build, Build.”
The President expressed confidence during a weekend event in Davao City that his government’s vision of a “seamless, efficient, accessible and highly-connected transportation system will be within reach as long as the Filipino people are guided by the core of the whole-of-nation and whole-of-society approach.”
Given the President’s renewed commitment on public transport modernization, Villafuerte said he is hoping this would lead soon to the start of the stalled Bicol train project of the Philippine National Railways (PNR).
“We Bicolanos certainly welcome the government’s decision to put back on the negotiating table the overseas funding component of the PNR Bicol project, an erstwhile flagship project that was put on hold just before former President Duterte left office, following the failure of Manila and Beijing by then to reach agreement on the proposed ODA (official development assistance) loan from the Chinese government,” Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, said.
He noted that state spending on this railway project would energize economic activity and create a lot more jobs in Bicol as infrastructure investments have the highest multiplier effect on the economy.
“This planned railway project will certainly give a big boost to the economy and tourism in our region, create more jobs and encourage more Bicolanos to stay put in Bicol instead of migrating to the national capital or other urban centers in search of jobs or livelihood opportunities,” he said.
Days after the President’s assurance, PNR chairman Michael Macapagal said that the South Long Haul Project will also be implemented soon.
At the same time, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) already started last week construction on the 31.5-km segments of the southbound railway project that will connect Metro Manila and Laguna.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista led the groundbreaking ceremony for the three packages of this project for the building and civil works including elevated stations from Alabang and Muntinlupa City to Cabuyao and Calamba cities.
Villafuerte said the proposed Bicol project is a 639-km railway originally costing $2.4 billion and with 35 stations spanning from the national capital to Sorsogon.
This rail project will pass through Camarines Sur and cut travel time by land from end to end to four hours from the current 12 hours.
Citing an earlier report quoting Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary John Batan, Villafuerte said the Department of Finance (DOF) has refiled its application for P308 billion-worth of Chinese loans for the construction of three rail lines, including the proposed PNR Bicol project.
Batan reportedly said the DOTr is pursuing these three railway proposals through the ODA approach instead of offering them to the private sector for implementation, as President Marcos had given no instruction to bid these projects out to private investors.
“The three railway projects are for China ODA financing. The discussions are ongoing with China and the loan applications have been resubmitted by the DOF … all three of them,” Batan was quoted as saying in a media report.
The two other projects under this three-railway loan package are Phase 1 of the Mindanao Railway Project and the Subic-Clark Railway Project.
Villafuerte said the proposed Bicol project is a 639-km railway originally costing $2.4 billion and with 35 stations spanning from the national capital to Sorsogon. The rail lines will pass through Camarines Sur and cut travel time by land from end to end to 4 hours from the current 12 hours.
Bicol Railway was one of the flagship projects under then-President Duterte’s centerpiece infrastructure modernization initiative “Build, Build, Build.”
However, the DOF took back the loan applications last year after the Chinese government failed to act on these project proposals just before then-President Duterte left office.
President Marcos has sustained the infrastructure buildup plan of his predecessor with his own “Build Better More” program.
Before Batan’s announcement, DOF Undersecretary for international finance Mark Dennis Joven was reported by the media as saying that his Department was exploring the possible adoption of a blended currency mechanism to speed up Beijing’s approval of the Bicol railway project, and at the same time minimize foreign exchange risk and cut the financial cost for our government.
This blended currency financing will involve part of the loan package in dollars and the other part in renminbi, a mix that was used in funding the China-financed Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridge projects during the former Duterte administration, said Joven.
“We used that blending mechanism to get a better rate and something like that can be done (again),” Joven said, adding that a mixed currency financing will be better for the Philippines at this time of high interest rates in the global market. “If it’s renminbi, they are a government entity, so technically whatever rate is approved by the Chinese government will be the rate given to us.”
During the recent launching of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in Valenzuela City, President Marcos said the event proved his Administration’s commitment to continue the projects initiated by the former Duterte administration as he vowed to build better and more infrastructure.
“We will continue to invest and improve on our transportation systems as well as pursue more projects in the years to come, so that Filipinos can gain greater access to places of work, commerce, recreation and other vital areas,” President Marcos said. “Having an effective and efficient transportation system will have multiplier effects on employment, the economy, and our society; it will also bring comfort, convenience, and an easier life for all.”
Villafuerte, who is CA majority leader, complained to DOTr Secretary Bautista during the latter’s confirmation hearing last year that despite the PNR Bicol project being a priority “Build, Build, Build” undertaking of the past government, this railway plan had failed to move forward after the initial reports that this undertaking would be funded mainly by China and built by a joint venture (JV) of three Chinese companies.
He was referring to the reported signing in January 2022 of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DOTr and the JV firms China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. (CREC JV) on a P142-billion Design-Build contract for the design and construction of Phase 1 of this PNR Bicol project from Calamba, Laguna to Daraga, Albay.
Villafuerte told Bautista during the latter’s CA hearing on his appointment that what the provincial government did in CamSur, which will cover the largest portion of the railway, is to re-route the project site as it would be easier and cheaper to buy the covered lands than to pay all the thousands of affected lot owners to relocate. “Imbes na paalisin po natin sila, wag na lang natin paalisin and i-reroute na lang po.”
This re-routing plan was already approved by the DOTr, but with the delay in the rollout of the PNR-Bicol project, Villafuerte fretted that “by the time you start, marami na naman pong illegal settlers (on the affected properties).”
He then suggested that the DOTr fund the right-of-way (ROW) acquisitions, “ayusin na, you can ask the LGUs (local government units) to make sure na wala pong magtayo dyan ng structures, illegal settlers, kasi by the time the loan is approved … at least tuloy-tuloy na po ang construction.”
Bautista replied that the government has available funds of P12 billion for the road ROW payments, and said Villafuerte was correct that the rerouting of the project site was the cheaper alternative as it would cost only P14 billion to P15 billion, as against the re-routing option that would entail a P54-billion bill.
“Tama po kayo, Congressman Villafuerte, that mas magiging economical po na kumuha na lang tayo ng bagong alignment. Dun po sa study namin, if you will use the old alignment, we’ll spend around P54 billion to … resettle the ISF (informal settler families),” Bautista said. “Samantalang kung kukuha po tayo ng bagong alignment, we’ll spend only around P14 to P15 billion, ‘no, so malaki po yung savings kaya ang balak po namin talaga dyan is magkaroon ng bagong alignment.”
“Sa ngayon po, meron po kaming available fund na pangbayad dito sa mga bibilhin nating lupa,” he added. “Meron po tayong around P12 billion pangbayad dito.”
Villafuerte said LGU executives could help the DOTr convince the affected landowners not to ask for higher payments for their properties, considering that the value of their adjoining lots would rise by as much as three times once the Bicol PNR project is up and running.
“So out of the P12 billion sana i-allocate niyo na ‘yan sa mga LGUs na tulong ma acquire ‘yan para maumpisahan na po ‘yang acquisition na ‘yan and hopefully under your leadership po ay either you can negotiate for better terms with the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) or DOF on the interest rates for the project loan,” he said.
Bautista then said: “Yes, Congressman Villafuerte we will work closely with the LGUs para we can start acquiring the land for which we’ll use for the alignment po, so we will work on that right of way project.”
The ROW acquisition for the project reportedly started almost three years ago and that the government has started relocating the affected settlers.
