JAPAN, which has just formally committed financing for five big-ticket projects under President Marcos’ flagship infrastructure program “Build Better More (BBM),” is very keen on doing a feasibility study on a high-speed rail project from Metro Manila to Bicolandia, according to Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte who leads a group of legislators and local executives in the province long batting for the revival of the “Bicol Express.”

Villafuerte said that in a recent meeting with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuja and Sakamoto Takema, the then-Philippine chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), these Japanese officials said that Tokyo was “very interested” in doing a feasibility study on a high-speed railway from the national capital to the Bicol provinces.

The erstwhile three-term governor of CamSur said that in a meeting with these Japanese officials, the latter said they were interested in doing a feasibility study on a high-speed rail system from Metro Manila to Bicol in case the Philippine government wants one.

A new feasibility study is appropriate, said Villafuerte, given that the original plan for the “Bicol Express,” which the Chinese government was supposed to finance and build—but did not—in the previous Administration, was not a high-speed rail system.

“Very interested ang Japanese Government to conduct the feasibility study of a modern high-speed rail papunta Bicol,” said Villafuerte, who is president of the National Unity Party (NUP), in a post on Facebook. “Huwag maniwala sa mga nagsasabi na impossible daw mangyari ang high-speed rail. Pag nagkakaisa, nag tutulungan, lahat posible.”

After Manila-Beijing negotiations on Chinese funding for the Philippine National Railway-South Long Haul (PNR-SLH) Project fell through by the end of the previous Duterte administration, Villafuerte proposed to the new Marcos administration to revive the PNR-SLH or “Bicol Express” project, with possible funding from new sources such as official development assistance (ODA) from Tokyo.

And if and when funding for the “Bicol Express,” indeed comes from ODA from Japan, Villafuerte suggested that, given the Japanese’ expertise in “bullet trains,” that Tokyo build a “bullet” train instead of a standard rail network so as to cut travel time from Metro Manila to Bicol from a half-day to just about four hours end-to-end.

Villafuerte said that Tokyo’s interest in funding a feasibility study on a Bicol rail project is “very timely,” considering that Japanese officials had just sealed with their Filipino counterparts loan packages for five infrastructure projects worth a combined JPY 171.58 billion (about P65.43 billion), as a manifestation of Japan’s full support for the BBM infrastructure development program of President Marcos.

Moreover, President Marcos also ordered the DOTr to mull over how to fast-track the “Bicol Express” and the modernization of the Naga Airport, during a meeting last March of the Regional Development Council (RDC) Region V in Pili, CamSur.

The financing deals were signed by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and new JICA representative to the Philippines Baba Takashi during the Manila visit of senior Japanese government officials led by Dr. Mori Masafumi, Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister, for the 15th session of the Philippines-Japan High-Level Joint Committee Meeting (HLJCM) on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

The 15th HLJCM was held last March 24 to speed up the implementation of Japan-supported projects under the Marcos administration.

In the same Facebook post, the NUP president said that in a separate meeting, he and CamSur Gov. Vincenzo Renato Luigi Villafuerte had personally conveyed to Transport Secretary Vivencio Dizon their appeal for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to support the fast-track implementation of two long-stalled transportation projects that would boost tourism and the local economy not only of the province but of the rest of Bicol as well.

These projects, which were already classified as flagship or priority ones in the previous Aquino and Duterte governments but never got off the ground, are the (1) “Bicol Express” project running from the national capital—passing through CamSur—to Albay or Sorsogon, and (2) modernization of the Naga Airport by expanding its runway from its current length of 1.3 kilometers (km) to 2 km, so it can accommodate much bigger plans like the Airbus and BAC jets that are used for international flights.

The NUP president said in his Facebook post that he; Gov. Villafuerte; and Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata plus Bicol Saro Rep. Rian Raymund Yamsuan are pushing an additional budget of P1.6 billion in the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2026 for the upgrade or runway expansion of the Naga Airport.

Villafuerte, who had pushed the implementation of both projects in the previous Duterte administration on the watch of then-DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade and in the first half of the current Marcos government when newly-resigned Jaime Bautista was at the helm of this Department, said that President issued in early March twin directives on how to possibly fast-track the “Bicol Express” and the Naga airport upgrade.

He said that President Marcos gave his fresh orders on the ‘Bicol Express” and the Naga Airport upgrade to DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan during the RDC Region V meeting in Pili last March 7.

That RDC meeting was held on the same day that the President visited the province to lead a campaign sortie in support of the pro-administration senatorial slate Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas at the Kaogma Grounds that was attended by a record 80,000 people.

Following the President’s appointment last February of Dizon, who was the Presidential Adviser on Flagship Programs and Projects under then-President Duterte, Villafuerte expressed the hope that the new DOTr chief could give priority to the long-stalled Naga Airport modernization and the revival of the “Bicol Express.”

Villafuerte said that during the RDC V meeting, Batan explained to President Marcos that one problem causing the delay in the airport modernization is the government’s long-standing right-of-way (ROW) disputes with certain people whose lands are in the way of the runway expansion plan.

President Marcos then directed Batan to see what the DOTr could do to solve the ROW disputes at the soonest so the runway expansion could finally commence, Villafuerte said.

Villafuerte said he expects a dramatic increase in foreign and local visitor arrivals once the airport upgrade is finally carried out, because an extended runway that will have room for jets will spur more routes and new destinations to be served by the Naga Airport, including the possibility of direct international flights for tourists and businesspersons.

Alternative financing such as the possible ODA from Japan or France for the PNR-SLH project were discussed by Batan during the RDC meeting, Villafuerte said.

He said that President Marcos then instructed Batan for the DOTr to discuss such financing modes with the relevant government agencies to see which option remains feasible for the “Bicol Express.”

Japan boasts a network of Shinkansen bullet trains with each train having a top speed of 320 km per hour.The Department of Finance (DOF) had secured financing from Japan for big-ticket infrastructure projects as well as program budget support for health and climate change initiatives during the 15th HLJCM in Manila last March 24.

During that high-level HLJCM meeting, the Japanese delegation reaffirmed Tokyo’s commitment of support to the Marcos administration’s BBM program and other key priority areas.

In a statement issued by the Japanese Embassy, Special Advisor Mori was quoted as saying that through the HLJCM, Tokyo “intends to continue robustly supporting the Marcos administration’s ‘Build Better More’ policy, which is a priority for the administration, through ODA and public-private partnerships, with an eye towards the Philippines’ promotion to the upper middle-income status.”

Japan has been the biggest source of ODA to the Philippines for some 20 years running, starting from the Arroyo government to the Aquino and Duterte administrations.

The DOF said in 2021 that Tokyo’s loans committed to the Philippines during these three previous administrations totaled $14.139 billion.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco