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Ruffy Magbanua

CIRCA 2020. The speed train is about to leave Cagayan de Oro for Davao. Travel time: one hour and 50 minutes.

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We now hear,  loud and clear, the amiable hostess’ voice  on the train’s loudspeakers: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Mindanao’s bullet train.

“We’ll take you to Davao in less than two hours. In the meantime, sit back,  relax, and enjoy the scenery, and the smooth ride. Thank you.”

Now, back to  the present.

Circa 2016. Construction of Mindanao’s railway system may start next year. Come again? Do we hear it right?  Fellas, take your excitement out for the meantime. For now, it’s still a dream in the making.  A  pipe dream actually. Read on.

Mindanao’s railway system,  envisioned to link the  cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, Butuan, Surigao, Davao and General Santos has been in the drawing board for years.

In fact, Mindanaoans had already  lost count of how many administrations served this country, but the project, for so many reasons,  political or otherwise,  never, never materialized.

Railway projects have been focused in Luzon, particularly in Imperial Manila, the center of the country’s political and economic influence and also where road congestion is at its worst.

Through the years, Mindanao has been left in the sidelines, nay, in the dark, to say it bluntly. The island has live up to its baptismal name: The Promised Land.

And now, Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is telling us that the project, a 2,000-kilometer railway project, will be awarded before the end of 2017.

With the proposed P55.478-billion budget of the DOTr for the railway project, Tugade has vowed to fasttrack the Mindanao railway system tagged as a priority project under the Duterte administration.

Take note, dear readers: end of next year. Wow, what a timeline! Mr. Secretary, can we cross the bridge when we get there?

But Mr. Secretary, just for the asking, where are we now? His reply: as a priority project of President Duterte, this  has been placed on a fast-track. The project plans, the design, the destination and the origin are being laid out now.

Once in place, hopefully, planners are looking at the end of next year for the awarding of the project.

Neighboring countries like China, Japan and Korea are interested on financing the project. In fact, the Japanese government would likely finance it through its Official Development Assistance (ODA) program.

At the local front, at least four  business groups are  interested on the project–Ayala Corp., Megawide Construction Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and San Miguel Corp.

Despite scant details, these business conglomerates are taking a closer look at the massive railway line linking key cities in Mindanao.

The DOTr earlier announced it was open to accepting unsolicited proposals for the railway project. This mode of procurement was avoided during the Aquino administration, which had a public bias against unsolicited proposals. This refers to project proposals offered by the private sector to be eventually placed under a Swiss challenge, where rival groups are allowed to submit a better offer than the proponent for a chance to win the deal.

However, the project does not only involve construction. It involves massive community engagements involving various stakeholders like affected communities, business groups and local government units. Where they consulted?

The proposed railway transport service will play a major role toward improvement of Mindanao’s intra-island accessibility, linkages and seamless multimodal transport networks.

Good vision for Mindanao. We just hope this plan for all of us Mindanaoans will not remain a pipe dream–or worse, a nightmare. Sigh.

E-mail:ruffy44_ph2000@yahoo.com

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