Mindanao Railway Funding Still Uncertain, DoTr Seeks International Partners

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) is continuing to pitch bilateral partners and development banks on funding the long-stalled Mindanao Railway project. "We continue to look for other development partners for those railway projects. Generally, our engagement with development partners continues," Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John R. Batan told reporters on the sidelines of an event last week. The DoTr is in talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to obtain funding. "We also talked to different bilateral partners," he said, citing South Korea, France, Spain and India. In 2023, the Philippines withdrew its loan request for official development assistance from China for the Mindanao Railway Project phase 1, and two more railway projects — the South Long-Haul railway, and the Subic-Clark railway, due to lack of progress towards a financing decision by Beijing. "We should expand and diversify our sources of funding from the traditional international banks (World Bank/ADB) and bilateral ones (JICA, US Agency for International Development, etc.) It gives us more choices and may result in better financial arrangements," Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnerships at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc. said via Viber. Mr. Villarete said France, Spain and India have long-standing track records in railway development which the Philippines can benefit from. "The lessons we can get are not only limited to successful ones but also and even their past mistakes and failures. The more options we can choose from and the more diversified they are, the better for our government to make better decisions,” he said. In May, ADB said it is ready to finance the Mindanao Railway project to help ensure its completion. The first phase of the Mindanao Railway Project is valued at P83 billion. It will run between Tagum, Davao del Norte and Digos City, Davao del Sur. It is expected to carry 122,000 passengers per day and cut travel time between Tagum and Digos from three hours to one. Meanwhile, the DoTr said it is also in discussions with financing partners for Metro Rail Transit Line 4 (MRT-4). The proposed MRT-4 project will run for about 14 kilometers, with 10 elevated stations and a depot, from the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue-Ortigas Avenue junction to Taytay, Rizal. It will have 10 stations. Once operational, the MRT-4 is expected to serve more than 400,000 passengers daily, the DoTr has said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose