WITH losses from traffic congestion in Manila set to spike up to a whopping P6 billion per day in the next decade-and-a-half, a ranking official from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) urged the Philippine government to quickly deploy measures to mitigate this catastrophe.
One such measure, Jica Chief Representative to Manila Noriaki Niwa said, involves the construction of railway lines—facilities that have proven to have freed roads from unnecessary congestion, and improved the mobility of goods and services in other countries.
“Traffic congestion is a clear and immediate challenge that can affect a country’s economic competitiveness,” he said. “It’s timely for the Philippines to start its railway projects to ease traffic, and improve mobility of logistics and ordinary commuters.”
Niwa added that Manila could learn from the experiences of cities abroad, citing Tokyo’s extensive railway network as an example.
“The Philippines’s transit lines of trains extend to about 50 kilometers, compared with cities like Tokyo, which has a 300-km subway network. By helping develop Metro Manila’s mass-transit system, we can expand growth and develop surrounding cities,” he said.
Manila, when compared to neighboring cities, is experiencing a dearth in rail facilities. Despite the fact that the Philippines holds the title to have the first elevated train system in Southeast Asia, it only has four operating railway systems to date.
Not to mention that these train systems are already congested—with the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 barging past its rated and crush capacities, forcing commuters to brave kilometric lines and jam-packed trains.
The government is now moving toward developing transport infrastructure around the country—even at a pace that industry observers tag as “slow.” On Friday the government signed a loan agreement with Japan for the construction of a 36-km commuter railway in Luzon.
Tokyo is one of Manila’s strongest development partners in the globe, with total official development assistance in loans and grants given to the Philippines second only to the World Bank.
The North-South Commuter Rail project involves the construction of a 36.7-km narrow-gauge elevated commuter railway from the City of Malolos, Bulacan, to Tutuban in Manila. It is seen to be completed by the third quarter of 2020.
The second phase of the facility, which will extend the commuter rail up to Matnog, Sorsogon, will be completed by the forth quarter of 2019. This will be auctioned off under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program.
Essentially, the whole project aims to revive the Bicol line of the Philippine National Railways, while improving its decades-old facilities that are far below the train systems of its peers.
The two-phase project is part of the P4.76-trillion Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas, otherwise known as the Dream Plan, which was formulated by Jica.
The Dream Plan lists the transport-infrastructure requirements of the Philippines, facilities that are expected to alleviate potential losses and gain from prospective savings.
If the transport road map would not be implemented through 2030, the Philippines stands to lose roughly P6 billion daily in traffic costs. Currently, it loses P2 billion a day in transport costs.
The Philippines is ramping up infrastructure spending for 2016 to 5 percent of the GDP, but for Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson, such an amount is not enough.
The current government has allotted P766.5 billion for public infrastructure in 2016, around 35 percent higher than this year’s allocation of P569.9 billion.
The Department of Public Works and Highways will enjoy the lion’s share of the figure, with P268.4 billion. The Department of Transportation and Communications, on the other hand, will have a budget of P10.2 billion for airports and seaports, and P15.7 billion for railways.
“If the next administration seizes the opportunity of increasing infrastructure investments, we should not only be at 5 percent of GDP. We should start ramping up to 7 percent to 10 percent of GDP, especially if the government goes to rail projects,” Singson said.
This would mean an annual spending target of about P1 trillion for infrastructure alone.
Infrastructure development under the Aquino administration—at least the massive ones—are being implemented under the PPP scheme. The current pipeline has around 55 projects, of which 11 have been awarded to the private sector.
To date, only two projects—the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway and the Automatic Fare Collection System—have been fully completed. Others are currently being constructed, while one is hurdling regulatory and political issues.
2 comments
Those idiots from DOTC don’t have any sense of urgency. Nganga lang.
Even the JICA has had enough. Build it now. The Govt should take advantage of the Japanese funding assistance,expertise and knowhow.