Responding to the clamor of Mindanaoans, Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara has filed a bill creating the state-owned Mindanao Railways Corp., or MindaRail, a move he likened to laying the first administrative track in building a railway in the world’s 10th most populous island.
“Rail is the locomotive that will drive Mindanao’s progress. It is also a driver for peace because, as communities become interconnected, economies are linked, growth spreads and travel brings cultural exchanges,” Angara said.
He added that the proposed railway corporation will have an authorized capital stock of P1 billion, with an 11-person board, all appointed by the President. MindaRail will locate its offices in Davao City.
In Senate Bill 137’s explanatory note, Angara said establishing the MindaRail would allow the island’s urban centers and growth corridors, such as the cities of Davao, General Santos, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato and Malaybalay to be linked by rail.
He said the train service should be capable of ferrying, not just people but cargo, as the island is an agriculture powerhouse producing, by last count, half-a-trillion pesos of farm produce a year.
Mindanao accounts for half of the country’s corn output, 83 percent of banana production, 61 percent of harvested coconut, 90 percent of pineapple yield and 67 percent of commercial fisheries catch and 36 percent of cattle inventory.
Yet, despite posting a GDP of P1.87 trillion, the island’s 21.9 million people account for 40 percent of the country’s poor.
“A train system is the ticket out of poverty for many of them,” Angara said, explaining that cheap, reliable and fast movement of goods would increase incomes and add value to produce.