FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte is hoping that the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP), one of the big-ticket projects under his administration, would still continue under the administration of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
"I hope that makaumpisa man lang tayo Mr. President, where would be the terminal be located," Duterte said in a taped interview posted on the official YouTube channel of his son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte on Wednesday, July 24.
The MRP is one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects of the Duterte administration under the Build, Build, Build program. It is designed to help improve inter-island connectivity and boost economic development in Mindanao.
Phase 1 of the MRP, the Tagum-Davao-Digos (TDD) segment, is a 105-kilometer line expected to reduce travel time from Davao del Norte to Davao del Sur from 3.5 hours to just 1.3 hours. It will have eight stations: Tagum, Carmen, Panabo, Mudiang, Davao Terminal, Toril, Sta. Cruz and Digos.
Initially, the funding for the railway project is expected to be sourced from China’s official development assistance (ODA).
However, the reason for the loan application withdrawal was not mentioned in the letter.
Duterte said China has been interested in helping materialize the project but is affected by the "geopolitical atmosphere" caused by the ongoing territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, and that seeking their assistance would give an impression that the government is "pro-China."
The former president added that the United States could not help the country in funding the railway project since they didn’t have ample funds for it. Other country the Philippines could turn to is Japan.
Duterte said the transition team of the current administration could have discussed it with them to go with the negotiations on how to fund the project.
"Napag-usapan na 'yan before. Sana the negotiation stage 'yung shadow government mo may mga proposals na para mapag-aralan na kapag nakaupo ka na dyan... maumpisahan na kaagad at least kalahati," Duterte said.
Trixie Cruz-Angeles, Marcos’ former press secretary and one of the hosts of the interview, revealed that the infra project has long been prepared since the time of the president's father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
However, Duterte inserted, "Ang tanong may awarding na ba? Doon tayo may problema," adding that this might be the reason why the railway project has not totally commenced.
Cruz-Angeles and Mark Lopez, another host, said the Marcos administration could have started it two years after being seated in power.
Duterte said his successor still has time for it to be implemented.
"To be tail over is... baka abutan ito ng... maabutan ito ng resurrection of Christ," the former Davao City mayor said in jest.
MRP and other big-ticket projects were not mentioned in the third State of the Nation Address (Sona) on June 22, 2024, although these were highlighted in the first two Sona.
It can be recalled that Marcos said during his visit to Tagum City in June this year that he is eyeing pursuing the MRP Phase 1's completion.
He also assured them of the “warmth and the intensity” of interest of his administration to push the completion of these projects and to make sure that these will ultimately benefit the Filipino people especially those in the project sites. RGL