Poe vows to revive Bicol Express train line

SORSOGON CITY — Exactly a month before the May 9 elections, independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe brought her campaign to the home province of her running mate, Sen. Francis Escudero, with the promise of reviving the famed railway line that inspired the term “Bicol Express.”

Speaking before a jampacked crowd at the Sorsogon provincial gym here Saturday, Poe said having a railway from Manila to Bicol would spur economic growth by facilitating the faster movement of people and goods.

“Dapat from Manila hanggang dito, dapat mas mabilis ang pagbiyahe. Ngayon, hindi natuloy ‘yung sinasabi nilang PNR (Philippine National Railways) na makakarating dito e proud pa naman ang mga Bicolano, ‘Bicol Express’ nga ‘yung sinasabi nila pero wala naman silang train system,” she said.

[Read: PNR resumes Bicol operations]

The proposed North-South Railway Project (NSRP) is on the procurement stage under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program. At P170.7 Billion, it is the biggest PPP deal so far.

The NSRP South line consists of commuter lines between Tutuban in Manila and Calamba in Laguna, and a long-haul network to Bicol provinces, including extended operations connecting Legazpi and Matnog in Sorsogon. The branch lines, existing and proposed, total approximately 653 kilometers.

Despite at least five prospective bidders, the project, which is supposed to be operational in 2020, has been derailed. Submission of pre-qualification documents originally set on April 15, 2016 had been postponed.

The existing PNR line is composed of a 56-kilometer stretch between Tutuban and Calamba, Laguna.

Aside from having a railway system, Poe wants the ports in Matnog town have to be improved so that bigger ships can dock.

Matnog, located at the southernmost tip of Bicol, is considered the gateway to Visayas and Mindanao.

"Alam naman natin, sa Matnog, Sorsogon, doon talaga ang pasukan ng iba’t ibang mga kalakal galing sa Mindanao at sa Visayas. Noong nagkaroon ng Yolanda, diyan talaga nakabara lahat ng mga trucks dahil maliit ang port at kailangan talagang mas malalaking barko ang makapasok doon,” she said.

In her speech, Poe vowed to listen to the needs of Bicolanos should she win as president since her running mate is from the region.

“Sa lahat ng Bicolano, makakaasa kayo kung ako man ay naroroon na sa Malacañang, malakas ang bulong sa akin ng mga Bicolano. Kung ano ang pangangailangan ninyo, hindi ko makakalimutan at ito ay aking tutugunan…” she said.

Escudero served three terms as a district representative of Sorsogon before his stint in the Senate.

Earlier in the day, he hosted a breakfast meeting and a boodle fight with local officials in his ancestral home here.

In attendance were politicians from the Liberal Party, United Nationalist Alliance and the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). — APG, GMA News