ALLIES Angeles City mayoralty bet Vice Mayor Bryan Nepomuceno and returning Congressman Joseller “Yeng” Guiao on Friday, January 18, said that they will make sure the construction of the Angeles segment of the planned P225-billion PNR Clark project will not be delayed by local issues and that it will be completed as scheduled.
In a joint statement, Nepomuceno, the official candidate of the Partido Abe Kampampangan and Guiao of the Kambilan Party of Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, said they are throwing their “100 percent cooperation and support for Secretary Arthur Tugade and the Department of Transportation (DoTr) as they move full steam ahead to see to it that PNR Clark is completed on target.”
Nepomuceno and Guiao issued the statement in reaction to concerns by some lawmakers on the ability of the DOTr to finish on schedule six railway projects that are part of the Build, Build, Build Program, the Duterte administration’s centerpiece infrastructure development thrust.
“I will do everything I can to make sure that construction of the Angeles segment of the planned P225 billion PNR Clark project will not be delayed by local issues the city government has immediate authority and influence to solve,” Nepomuceno said, stressing the critical importance of President Duterte’s railway project connecting Metro Manila to this city and nearby Clark Freeport.
For his part, Guiao said: “I will personally sponsor or co-sponsor House bills that are necessary to finally avoid perennial issues that delay the completion of government infrastructure projects. The early completion of the PNR Clark project is at the top of our agenda as it will benefit all the people of the first district of Pampanga.”
Targeted for completion sometime in 2020, the P225-billion PNR Clark project will cut travel time from Metro Manila to Clark International Airport to just around 55 minutes.
Status of rail projects
In the same statement, Nepomuceno and Guiao noted that during a House Committee on Transportation hearing on Wednesday, Cebu City Representative Raul del Mar observed that the “updates sound very good, but how can you assure us that the DOTr will be able to meet these timelines?”
DOTr officials led by Undersecretary Timothy John Batan briefed lawmakers on the status of six railway projects funded through loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These projects include the 147-kilometer North South Commuter Railway from Clark in Pampanga to Calamba City in Laguna province, which is projected to cost P777.5 billion; and the 35-km Metro Manila Subway project from Quezon City to Parañaque worth P356 billion.
However, lawmakers noted that a 2017 report of the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed the failed implementation of 153 of 159 DOTr projects worth P58.9 billion, including some railway projects.
According to the COA, the non-implementation of these projects was caused by changes in “policy directions by political leaders and economic managers.”
In February last year, the DOTr announced the revival of the PNR system with a line to the north as part of a bigger development plan for Clark and other cities outside Metro Manila,
The 38-kilometer Phase 1 of the project, which runs through ten stations from Tutuban in Manila to Malolos in Bulacan, is expected to serve around 340,000 people daily on a 35-minute commute.
PNR Clark Phase 2, meanwhile, is 69-kilometer stretch of railways from Malolos to Angeles City and Clark Freport Zone. This segment will have 17 stations— Tutuban, Solis, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, Malolos, Calumpit, Apalit, City of San Fernando, Angeles City, Clark, Clark International Airport and New Clark City. (JTD)