ANGELES CITY -- A former vice mayor in Mexico town, Pampanga province was recently appointed director of the North Luzon Railways Corporation (Northrail).
Albert Dela Cruz, a consultant of an Aeta group named Samahang Tribung Ayta, thanked President Duterte and Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade for appointing him as Northrail board member.
The Kapampangan people have waited for a long time for the project to be realized and it’s about time it should be completed under the Duterte Administration, according to Dela Cruz.
“Of course, magpasalamat tamu keng presidenti. One thing is dumalan ya kekatamu ing tren then number two maluat ta neng para-pareung paninap ita. So metung a maragul a bage na ating Kapampangan a atyu keng Northrail uling metung ya kareng flagship project na ning presidenti,” he said.
Because of that train, Pampanga will be having the status as the capital center not only of Central Luzon but also of Northern Luzon because the plan is to have the central station within the area of Clark, Dela Cruz added.
“So we have Clark New City to Tutuban and then Clark New City to Subic, then Clark to far North up to San Fernando La Union. So that is the mandate [of the Northrail]. In so far as the board is concern, we need to wait for other investors to come in specifically for the areas na ala pang meg siginify investment,” the new Northrail official said.
“We have now Tutuban to Clark and then Clark to Subic. So we are exploring the possibility to connect Clark with the rest of the Northern Luzon area,” he added.
Dela Cruz admiited that there are minimal issues related to the project but said that everything is smooth sailing with Tugade’s leadership.
He said the project, once completed, will really change the landscape of Pampanga especially with the [Clark] airport.
“I think in so far as comparing it to other past administration, there is a clear picture at the end of the tunnel under Duterte’s leadership,” Dela Crus added.
The railway system is very important to the development of Central Luzon in terms of fast and mass transport.
“All modern cities and highly industrialized countries they rely more on mass transportation. It will solve our problems on traffic congestion, infrastructure and at the same time global warming and others,” he said.