Get moribund ‘Bicol Express’ running again, solon appeals
BICOL Saro Party-list Representative Brian Raymund Yamsuan has urged the country’s corporate giants to help fund the revival of the “Bicol Express” or the proposed Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Long Haul Project.
This after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called for stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector to ensure the delivery of “progress as quickly as we need to” the Filipino people.
Yamsuan expressed optimism that private investors can team up with the government and put up a consortium to bring new life to the Bicol Express project.
In his second State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), Marcos renewed his commitment to keep infrastructure spending under his administration 5 to 6 percent of GDP to guarantee efficient economic growth.
The President also stressed in his SONA that “collaboration is the key”, including between the government and the private sector, to realize these ambitious plans for infrastructure development and the other priority programs of his administration.
“The Department of Transportation said that it is currently looking for private investors for some of its rail projects, including the South Long Haul Project that will run all the way to Bicol. This project has long been proven viable for private investors considering that some of our corporate giants have long expressed interest in reviving the long-idle Bicol Express,” said Yamsuan, vice chair of the Committee on Bicol Affairs and Economic Development.
“Reviving and modernizing the Bicol Express will put on the express lane Bicolandia’s economic development . Dapat magtulong ang gobyerno at ang pribadong sektor para mai-Bicol Express na ang pag-unlad ng Bicol,” he added.
He recalled that under past administrations, at least three big private firms have confirmed their interest in reviving the Bicol Express through a public-private partnership scheme.
San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp., and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) have expressed interest in bidding for the Bicol Express project way back in 2015, Yamsuan recalled. However, the plan was stalled because MPIC was concerned over the timing of the bidding for the project, which at that time was less than a year before the late President Benigno Aquino III was to step down from office.
