BECAUSE the Philippines is a laggard in railway infrastructure development in the region, the Duterte administration has grown obsessed in building a number of train networks across the country to enhance connectivity among provinces and cities.
Transportation Assistant Secretary for Rails Cesar B. Chavez admitted that the new administration is disappointed with the more than one-decade dry spell in railway development in the Philippines.
This sentiment comes from the sad reality that, while the Philippines was the first Southeast Asian nation to build an overhead railway system, it is also one of the countries in the economic area where mass transportation is inadequate.
“The land area in Metro Manila is almost similar to Jakarta, Seoul, Mumbai and Cairo,” Chavez said. “The population in Metro Manila is almost the same with Jakarta and Seoul at 10 million to 12 million. But when it comes to railway networks, theirs is about 500 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers and ours is about 70 kilometers.”
Data from the transportation department showed that the Philippines only has 79 kilometers of rails today.
Constant underspending
THE Philippine rail sector has been dragged by constant underspending for more than a decade now. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam have earmarked billions of dollars to improve their rail network.
Hanoi, Vietnam, in particular, only started the development of its railway network in 2012 and is envisioned to have 54 kilometers of rails in three years’ time.
Jakarta is set to have a rail network of 108 kilometers by 2018.
Thailand, on the other hand, already has a robust 4,346 kilometers of rail network. It has planned to add 56.5 kilometers of additional rail links in the next few years.
According to Chavez, this apparent government underinvestment in rails stems from wrong decisions and policies adopted by previous administrations.
“It’s a policy issue,” Chavez said. “Corruption only comes next.”
Bended policies
CORRUPTION, according to Chavez, is a byproduct of bended policies.
For example, the previous government decided to end the construction of the multibillion-peso North Rail—an 80-kilometer railway line that was envisioned to run from Caloocan to Malolos and Clark Field—due to issues of corruption.
China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. had already built guideways in Malabon and Bulacan, when the Aquino administration ordered the cancellation of the $593-million contract for North Rail mired with legal cases.
“The problem with railway development in our country is policy based,” Chavez said. “The previous administration have been implementing wrong policies.”
He also pointed out that the sorry state of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) could also be blamed to wrong policies.
Wrong procurement
THE four train lines operating today that, according to BusinessMirror estimates, work at 58.75 percent, are not interconnected with each other—much less connected to other modes of transportation.
“The previous government, for example, allowed a contractor for a contract of six months for the maintenance of the MRT 3. Given that timeline, the contractor will not have the capacity to invest in spare parts. Hence, without spare parts, the maintenance of the train system is, in effect, jeopardized,” Chavez said. “It’s a wrong procurement.”
He added that, while the Aquino administration jump-started the acquisition of 48 new train cars for the Edsa line, it forgot to include in the contract the provision for onboard signaling system for the light-rail vehicles.
Hence, the cars that were already delivered by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stocks of China were left warehoused in the train line’s depot.
“They also forgot to take into consideration the capacity of the whole system in terms of power,” Chavez said. “It has the capacity to run with 23 to 24 train sets at a certain period. But with the new trains, which we plan to use to modify the sets from three cars to four, we may need to increase the power capacity of the MRT 3.”
Mindanao railway
MODERNIZING and improving the existing railway lines are not the only ones on the list of the Duterte administration, Chavez said, it involves billions of pesos in investments stretched beyond the term of the newly elected president.
This includes the construction of the East-West Line, which will run from Commonwealth to Quiapo. There is also a plan to build a railway that will run from Malolos to Clark and another one from Solis to Los Baños. Another plan is the Mindanao Railway, among others.
“In Mindanao alone, there are about 1,533 kilometers worth of rails to develop,” Chavez said. “The dream for Mindanao is to have a railway line that will run from Cagayan de Oro to Davao City.”
The Mindanao railway project will be done in three phases—divided into so-called corridors.
Corridor 1 will be from Cagayan de Oro to Butuan. The second corridor will run from Butuan to Davao City, while the third corridor will be the loop to Cagayan de Oro from the city of Davao.
“The policy there is the train will cover six different regions,” Chavez said.
Foreign investors
AS early as now, Chavez said the government has received an overwhelming support from foreign investors, particularly from Japan and China.
“The Chinese and Japanese are competing for railway deals,” Chavez added. “The Japanese want to conduct a feasibility study for the railway from Malolos to Clark. They want to develop the said railway. China is also interested in that project.”
The official explained that there are two ways by which the government could develop rail infrastructure in the country: one is through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, and by getting investors from other countries.
“PPP is the way to go. We have many proponents from South Korea, Japan and China,” he said. “The policy is there should be no sovereign guarantee, and the government will not give out subsidy.”
The government is also open to unsolicited proposals, which are projects not included in the state’s pipeline of deals, but are offered by the private sector for implementation. Such projects were previously shunned by the previous government because of the lengthy process of competitive challenge, and to dodge issues of corruption.
But all these plans, according to rail expert Rene S. Santiago, may only prove to be a problem if the government will not deliver as it has promised.
“The previous administrations have tried to increase allocations to infrastructure. The obsession with railway is misplaced,” he told the BusinessMirror. “A railway in Mindanao will be an albatross on future Mindanao developments by sucking out funds from other sectors.”
He also foresees that the Mindanao Railway “will not be completed” during the term of President Duterte, given the short amount of time that he will serve as the country’s Chief Executive.
“By the end of Duterte’s term, I expect a lot of dissatisfaction in terms of nonaccomplishment of ambitious goals,” Santiago said.
The government is banking on Congress approval of the emergency powers to hasten the implementation of infrastructure projects in the next few years.
Transportation Assistant Secretary for Rails Cesar B. Chavez admitted that the new administration is disappointed with the more than one-decade dry spell in railway development in the Philippines.
This sentiment comes from the sad reality that, while the Philippines was the first Southeast Asian nation to build an overhead railway system, it is also one of the countries in the economic area where mass transportation is inadequate.
“The land area in Metro Manila is almost similar to Jakarta, Seoul, Mumbai and Cairo,” Chavez said. “The population in Metro Manila is almost the same with Jakarta and Seoul at 10 million to 12 million. But when it comes to railway networks, theirs is about 500 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers and ours is about 70 kilometers.”
Data from the transportation department showed that the Philippines only has 79 kilometers of rails today.
Constant underspending
THE Philippine rail sector has been dragged by constant underspending for more than a decade now. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam have earmarked billions of dollars to improve their rail network.
Hanoi, Vietnam, in particular, only started the development of its railway network in 2012 and is envisioned to have 54 kilometers of rails in three years’ time.
Jakarta is set to have a rail network of 108 kilometers by 2018.
Thailand, on the other hand, already has a robust 4,346 kilometers of rail network. It has planned to add 56.5 kilometers of additional rail links in the next few years.
According to Chavez, this apparent government underinvestment in rails stems from wrong decisions and policies adopted by previous administrations.
“It’s a policy issue,” Chavez said. “Corruption only comes next.”
Bended policies
CORRUPTION, according to Chavez, is a byproduct of bended policies.
For example, the previous government decided to end the construction of the multibillion-peso North Rail—an 80-kilometer railway line that was envisioned to run from Caloocan to Malolos and Clark Field—due to issues of corruption.
China National Machinery and Equipment Corp. had already built guideways in Malabon and Bulacan, when the Aquino administration ordered the cancellation of the $593-million contract for North Rail mired with legal cases.
“The problem with railway development in our country is policy based,” Chavez said. “The previous administration have been implementing wrong policies.”
He also pointed out that the sorry state of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) could also be blamed to wrong policies.
Wrong procurement
THE four train lines operating today that, according to BusinessMirror estimates, work at 58.75 percent, are not interconnected with each other—much less connected to other modes of transportation.
“The previous government, for example, allowed a contractor for a contract of six months for the maintenance of the MRT 3. Given that timeline, the contractor will not have the capacity to invest in spare parts. Hence, without spare parts, the maintenance of the train system is, in effect, jeopardized,” Chavez said. “It’s a wrong procurement.”
He added that, while the Aquino administration jump-started the acquisition of 48 new train cars for the Edsa line, it forgot to include in the contract the provision for onboard signaling system for the light-rail vehicles.
Hence, the cars that were already delivered by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stocks of China were left warehoused in the train line’s depot.
“They also forgot to take into consideration the capacity of the whole system in terms of power,” Chavez said. “It has the capacity to run with 23 to 24 train sets at a certain period. But with the new trains, which we plan to use to modify the sets from three cars to four, we may need to increase the power capacity of the MRT 3.”
Mindanao railway
MODERNIZING and improving the existing railway lines are not the only ones on the list of the Duterte administration, Chavez said, it involves billions of pesos in investments stretched beyond the term of the newly elected president.
This includes the construction of the East-West Line, which will run from Commonwealth to Quiapo. There is also a plan to build a railway that will run from Malolos to Clark and another one from Solis to Los Baños. Another plan is the Mindanao Railway, among others.
“In Mindanao alone, there are about 1,533 kilometers worth of rails to develop,” Chavez said. “The dream for Mindanao is to have a railway line that will run from Cagayan de Oro to Davao City.”
The Mindanao railway project will be done in three phases—divided into so-called corridors.
Corridor 1 will be from Cagayan de Oro to Butuan. The second corridor will run from Butuan to Davao City, while the third corridor will be the loop to Cagayan de Oro from the city of Davao.
“The policy there is the train will cover six different regions,” Chavez said.
Foreign investors
AS early as now, Chavez said the government has received an overwhelming support from foreign investors, particularly from Japan and China.
“The Chinese and Japanese are competing for railway deals,” Chavez added. “The Japanese want to conduct a feasibility study for the railway from Malolos to Clark. They want to develop the said railway. China is also interested in that project.”
The official explained that there are two ways by which the government could develop rail infrastructure in the country: one is through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, and by getting investors from other countries.
“PPP is the way to go. We have many proponents from South Korea, Japan and China,” he said. “The policy is there should be no sovereign guarantee, and the government will not give out subsidy.”
The government is also open to unsolicited proposals, which are projects not included in the state’s pipeline of deals, but are offered by the private sector for implementation. Such projects were previously shunned by the previous government because of the lengthy process of competitive challenge, and to dodge issues of corruption.
But all these plans, according to rail expert Rene S. Santiago, may only prove to be a problem if the government will not deliver as it has promised.
“The previous administrations have tried to increase allocations to infrastructure. The obsession with railway is misplaced,” he told the BusinessMirror. “A railway in Mindanao will be an albatross on future Mindanao developments by sucking out funds from other sectors.”
He also foresees that the Mindanao Railway “will not be completed” during the term of President Duterte, given the short amount of time that he will serve as the country’s Chief Executive.
“By the end of Duterte’s term, I expect a lot of dissatisfaction in terms of nonaccomplishment of ambitious goals,” Santiago said.
The government is banking on Congress approval of the emergency powers to hasten the implementation of infrastructure projects in the next few years.
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