Mindanao Railway, PNR Bicol, Subic-Clark Railway to be resubmitted to NEDA —DOTr

The three major railway projects which were supposed to be funded by China will be resubmitted to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for re-evaluation, a top official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.

To recall, Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez said China “backed out” in funding the Mindanao Railway Project’s Tagum-Davao-Digos segment, the Philippine National Railways Calamba to Bicol line, and the Subic-Clark Railway Project as it did not act on the Duterte administration’s request for loan financing. 

At the sidelines of the Post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) Economic Briefing in Pasay City, Chavez told reporters that the three railway projects will be resubmitted to the NEDA-Investment Coordination Committee to re-evaluate if they will still be funded through official development assistance (ODA) loan or public-private partnership (PPP).

The Transportation official said it is up to the Department of Finance (DOF) if it will renegotiate with China while the NEDA ICC is evaluating the projects.

“The intention of the Secretary is to resubmit the three of them,” Chavez said, referring to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

In a separate interview, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno also said the railway projects will be resubmitted to the NEDA.

Diokno said if not China, the government can tap other ODA sources such as Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.

“These are nice projects and already evaluated by NEDA.  It’s socially worthwhile projects,” the Finance chief said.

For his part, Chavez said the ODA is still “the best” funding mode for the three railway projects.

“Whether it's going to China or to Japan. I would not comment,” the DOTr official said.

The contract for the construction of the P142-billion Philippine National Railways South Long Haul project or the PNR Bicol from Banlic, Calamba to Daraga, Albay was awarded to joint venture of China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd., and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. (CREC JV) in January.

At least 85% of the PNR Bicol’s cost was supposed to be financed through a loan from the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, the P83-billion Tagum-Davao-Digos segment of the Mindanao Railway Project—a campaign promise of former President Rodrigo Duterte — did not proceed as scheduled as China was not able to submit a shortlist of contractors for the project’s design-and-build contract.

Last year, it was indicated that the construction of the railway project’s phase 1 will begin in the second quarter of 2022 and is targeted to be partially operable by the latter part of the year. The Mindanao Railway was originally set to begin construction for its phase 1 or Tagum-Davao-Digos segment in January 2019.

The construction of the P51-billion Subic-Clark Railway project was awarded to China Harbour Engineering Co. in December 2020. — BM, GMA News