China, Japan Firms Interested to Construct the Mindanao Railway System — NEDA

Davao City — China and Japan construction corporations are interested to implement the 2,000-kilometer Mindanao Railway System which is proposed to start from Davao to the eastern part of Mindanao.

But more than Japan, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Ernesto Pernia said China is more aggressive in doing the project that could start next year.

“Probably, both can do the project but I do not know how we get them together,” Pernia said. There are also reports that South Korea has also offered to do the project.

The administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants to start the construction of the railway system under his term.

Pernia said the project will be done by segments starting from Davao to the eastern part of Mindanao toward Cagayan de Oro City. It will go beyond the six-year term of President Duterte.

The Mindanao Railway System is one of the major infrastructure development projects of the administration over the next six years.

Aside from the Mindanao railway, President Duterte plans to build the Manila-Nueva Vizcaya, Manila-Sorsogon, and Manila-Batangas line. He wants the projects owned by the government given the contentious procedures of the projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

As to funding for the project, Pernia said, “The money is not really a major consideration, because there are so many investors interested.” He mentioned partnership of local and foreign investors and the Official Development Assistance (ODA), a loan or a grant administered with the objective of promoting sustainable social and economic development and welfare of the country.

ODA resources must be contracted with governments of foreign countries with whom the Philippines has diplomatic, trade relations or bilateral agreements or which are members of the United Nations, their agencies and international or multilateral lending institutions.

NEDA-XI Regional Director Ma. Lourdes Lim said the feasibility study (FS) of the railway system will be completed within the month. “It is almost complete and the FS is being done by a team where NEDA commissioned ten consultants to handle the work,” she said.

Once the FS is completed, she said it will be reviewed with further recommendations by the NEDA Board and to be submitted to the Inter-Agency Cabinet Cluster.

Lim said the system is to provide access for fast movement in transporting cargoes in the island of Mindanao.

Under the initial proposal, Lim said the railway system would traverse towards the outer coastal areas of Mindanao but it was redesigned in consideration of the project cost.

Last Wednesday, Senator Richard Gordon filed a Senate bill aimed at creating the Mindanao Railway Corporation, an agency that would be authorized to establish and maintain an efficient railway system.

Gordon backed the establishment of a railway system in Mindanao to spur economic growth and development in the second largest island in the country.

“Mindanao is known as the Land of Promise, yet until the present, the State has failed to maximize the potential of the island to contribute to regional and national economic development. It is essential to facilitate transportation for both people and goods to spur economic growth and development in Mindanao,” he pointed out.

Gordon said the creation of the Mindanao Railway Corporation is a crucial step in the government’s efforts to fully harness the natural and human resources of Mindanao for the benefit of the island’s inhabitants and the Filipino people as a whole.

“To invest money and time in the Mindanao Railway System would be risky beyond anything ever before attempted, but when it is completed, it would link the entire island of Mindanao, forever changing the nature of Mindanao’s politics and economy,” he added.

The measure also proposes to give a 10-year national and local tax exemption to all properties, whether real or personal, that would be actually, directly, and exclusively used in the Mindanao Railway System. (PNA) SCS/LILIAN C. MELLEJOR AND DIGNA BANZON/LDP/RSM