The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has secured a P600-million budget to finance the feasibility studies of four new railway projects of the Marcos administration.
In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government has initiated new railway projects with a total length of 1,024 kilometers.
These are the 853-km Philippine National Railways North Long Haul, 100-km Panay Railway, 54-km North Mindanao Railway and the 17-km San Mateo Railway. All of these new railway projects have secured funding for feasibility studies.
Jaime Bautista, DOTr secretary, recently told reporters the feasibility studies for over 1,000 km of railway projects are being funded through the public-private partnership, official development assistance and the DOTr’s existing budget.
The procurement is now ongoing for consultancy firms to create the feasibility studies for the rail projects lined up by the administration.
The feasibility studies should be completed in more than a year and must be investment grade, Bautista added.
Meanwhile, the DOTr said the winning bidder for the rehabilitation of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) would be required to spend around P130 billion in the next three to five years of the 15-year concession period.
The contract also has a P30-billion upfront payment.
“There is a commitment to spend a certain amount of money for infrastructure. We are looking to have mandatory infrastructure investment that should be implemented within the next five years and we’re looking at P130 billion,” Bautista said.
Bautista added bidders for the modernization of the airport could expect the terms of reference for its upgrade by August.
Once the terms are laid down, the DOTr may accept proposals for NAIA’s upgrade by October or November, and award the project to the winning bidder by year-end.
