Saturday, November 18, 2006 Roxas: All systems go for NorthRail project to Clark By Fred Roxas Countryside Pulse
IT'S all systems go for the NorthRail project, Phase I of which was divided into two sections, one from Caloocan City to Malolos City and the other section up to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark.
With the groundbreaking rites last April 5, all is set for the construction of the ambitious project.
As envisioned, the 80-kilometer project costing at least US$503 million estimated to be completed in three years is expected by the government to enhance the development and growth potentials of Central and Northern Luzon, according to Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president and CEO Levy Laus.
The other phases will involve the construction later on of extension rail lines to Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales, Bonifacio Global City and of Poro Point Special Economic Zone in La Union.
The first phase of the project involves the clearing of informal settlers and illegal structures along the existing 32.2-kilometer former Philippine National Railways (PNR) tracks between Caloocan City and Malolos City and eventually up to Clark zone.
Records at the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) showed that separate tracks would be constructed for north and southbound trains to allow simultaneous operation.
It will also require, according to BCDA, right-of-way acquisition with a width of at least 30 meters or l5 meters per track.
Impartial observers said that proponents of the NorthRail project would encounter difficulty driving out squatters, including big commercial establishments and concrete residential houses along the former PNR tracks, which has not been used for more than 25 years now.
In Malolos City, at least three big supermarkets and other apartments are constructed by influential and professional squatters right on top of the former railroad tracks. These squatters claimed that they cannot be ejected from their places.
Thousands of commuters and vehicle owners from Central and Northern Luzon have been anticipating the construction of the NorthRail project, saying that they would be economizing in traveling between these places and Metro Manila.
The initial fare rate once the diesel- powered NorthRail starts operation will be P10 boarding fare plus P1 for every kilometer for a total fare of P42 from Caloocan City to Malolos City. Other land-based transportation firms charge an average of P70 between the two cities.
Travel time, once the rail project is realized, would be approximately 32 minutes between Caloocan City and Malolos City.
The Chinese Government through the Export Import Bank of China will fund US$421 million of the project cost, with a repayment period of 20 years inclusive of a five-year grace period at three percent interest per annum.
The remaining US$82 million will be funded by the Philippine Government as counterpart fund, which would already incorporate expenses for squatter relocation.
If the NorthRail project is pushed through and becomes operational, it would be very advantageous to the people of Central and Northern Luzon, according to Mayor Boking Morales of Mabalacat, former president of the Pampanga Mayors' League (PML) and co-chairman of the Metro Clark Advisory Council (Mcac) and Tarlac Governor Jose Yap.
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When majority of the Pampanga mayors defected recently to the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), their spokesman Mayor Jerry Pelayo of Candaba explained that their action "has no conflict (with their loyalty and support?) to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo" and that "it has no blessing by the President and Presidential son and Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo."
What could be the real purpose of the defection especially when they announced that they would soon hold a convention to select their candidates whom they will support in the 2007 elections? Will these defectors campaign and support their own candidates even with the possibility that their cabalen President Arroyo might endorse or support her preferred candidates in the province? One possibility is that the President might support or pledge support to the reelection bid of Governor Mark Lapid and his preferred running mate in conflict with the desire of most of the defectors who have voiced their plan to select their own candidates.
