ANGELES CITY – Instead of building a mass railway transit, the advocacy group Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) has called on President Benigno Aquino III to convert the mothballed NorthRail project into a superhighway that could “pave the way for a new frontier for development.”
PGKM Chair Ruperto Cruz said that a superhighway is more cost efficient instead of pursuing a railway system project that would connect Metro Manila to the Clark Freeport in the province of Pampanga.
Cruz made the call following reports that President Aquino is not keen on continuing the $503-million NorthRail project based on the original contract signed between the government and Chinese contractors during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Aside from saving the government billions in taxpayers’ money, Cruz stressed that building a superhighway will also resolve the problem of the cutting of trees along MacArthur Highway.
“A superhighway instead of the NorthRail could even appease the environmentalists, who have been pushing their advocacies to save hundreds of Acacia tress that would be cut because of the widening of MacArthur Highway,” Cruz explained further.
He added that since thousands of informal settlers have been relocated away from the old railroad tracks of the Philippine National Railways, “The issue of right-of-way will no longer pose as a problem and it will help save the government millions of pesos in social costs.”
Cruz was also swift in reminding the government that it “should act quickly” to avoid the possible return of informal settlers to the NorthRail tracks since the project was mothballed by numerous delays.
Earlier, Punto reported that the Aquino administration is renegotiating the 32-kilometer railway that would initially connect Caloocan City to the historic Malolos City.
In an interview, the President reiterated that the NorthRail project is grossly overpriced compared to its southern component, the $50-million SouthRail Project, which spans 34 kilometers.
The President said he finds it irresponsible to pursue an over-priced project and stressed that a 32-kilometer railway project costing $503 million “is not a joke.”
Mr. Aquino added that the contract for the NorthRail project is being reviewed and noted that government and Chinese contractor Sinomach group decided to sit down without penalty on each other.
Reacting to the report, Cruz suggested that the ideal location for the NorthRail project would be in the middle of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx).
He noted that there would be no right-of-way issues and that it would be “a better way to interconnect Metro Manila to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales, and nearby ports.
Cruz stressed that his proposed alternative to the NorthRail project is just “unsolicited advice.”
“In fact, I leave it to the prerogative of President Aquino whether or not he would want to make any changes [to the project] or even if he scraps the original contract if and when he finds the project disadvantageous to the government,” Cruz said.
He also noted that “taking time to review the contract and not making any rash decisions is an example of the good governance President Aquino has promised the Filipino people.” –Peter C. Alagos
