Mayors to revitalize railway system plan

Pagadian City – “There can be no project for Mindanao better than the Mindanao railway system,” said Mayor Sammy Co when asked by the media what development plans the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) is pushing for.

Co, who was elected LCP vice-president for Mindanao, has expressed confidence the railway project will kick off and will be completed during Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s administration.

“The Mindanao mayors are collaborating to strengthen the proposed project, and that we have assigned mayors to work on the project,” Co disclosed, adding that the project has vital economic impact.

It may be recalled, the idea of Mindanao railway started with former President Fidel V. Ramos. Former president Joseph Estrada revived the plan but never gave the go signal.

During the term of former president Gloria Arroyo, the Mindanao Railway System was listed as one of Arroyo’s priority project but the plan failed to jumpstart.

The initial Mindanao railway development plan would comprise a network of lines linking Cagayan de Oro City to Iligan City, Iligan to Pagadian City and to Zamboanga City, and Cagayan de Oro to Agusan and Surigao, as well as extensions to Davao and General Santos cities.

The Cagayan de Oro-Iligan route is the first priority since the stretch covers the industrial passageway of the southern island.
Accordingly, the feasibility study for the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor is now completed while the FS for Cagayan de Oro-Davao-General Santos line is still going on.

The Iligan-Pagadian-Zamboanga City line is now under technical assessment by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

It is estimated project’s first phase will cost P66.5 billion or US$1.33 billion. Previously, the project was approximated at $800 million to $1 billion but was raised to $1.3 billion to include four other towns in Misamis Oriental and one municipality in Lanao del Norte.

Last year, the Saudi Fund for Development had expressed willingness to finance the bulk of the project with minimal 2% interest and a 25-year payback period.

The government had also approached creditors from Poland, Spain, Japan and South Korea for help in financing the railway’s construction.

Reports said that before construction starts, the Mindanao Railways project needs P13.5 million operating budget for the Mindanao Railways Project Office, which was created by virtue of executive Order No. 536 dated May 25, 2006 in parallel to House Bill No. 1855 (creating the Mindanao Railways Corporation and providing funds for its operation).

The Department of Budget and Management last year scratched the budget proposal.

It was learned another P51-million is needed for the completion of the feasibility study, P100 million to start acquisition for the right of way (ROW) and a staggering P2 billion to complete the ROW acquisition and to commence construction.

Construction of the first phase of Mindanao Railways is scheduled to start in 2011. The railway is expected to be operational in 5 years time.

Detailed discussions for the succeeding phases that include the Iligan-Pagadian stretch have not yet started.
When completed, the railway will cut travel time from Iligan to Pagadian to 20-30 minutes.

Observers opined Mindanao mayors need to work out schemes to hasten the entire project, considering the huge financing needs, complex feasibility study and other technical aspects.