MANILA – There are no funds yet for the railway system in Panay Island, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and its revival is not a priority of the agency.
Despite President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement that “railways offer great potential as they continue to be the cheapest way of transporting goods and passengers,” DOTr secretary Jaime Bautista said his office would prioritize “aviation-related developments”.
According to Undersecretary Cesar Chavez on Tuesday in a Viber reply to the media pertaining to the Panay railway system and other railway projects outside the National Capital Region, “There is no funding source for that project so far, and there is no guidance from the DOF (Department of Finance) where to get the budget.”
“The directive from (Bautista) is to (merely) study (the railways),” said Chavez.
On Monday during his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos said improving the country’s railway system, along with modernizing existing airports and seaports, “will maximize the Philippines’ strategic location in the Pacific, and connect our many islands.”
He then mentioned larger-scale railway systems such as the Panay railway system, the 102-kilometer Mindanao Railway Project and the Cebu railway system.
As for funding, the President said, “The planned expansion of infrastructure projects, I believe, would be possible if we continue to encourage the participation of the private sector in the development of our programs.”
“Public Private Partnerships or PPPs hold great potential for that expansion, for infrastructure development and for innovation,” said the President.
According to President Marcos on Monday, the Panay railway system, which started operating in 1907 before ceasing in 1983 due to mounting losses, will be integrated as a vital part of the country’s transport and communications systems.
The Panay railway’s original route was 117 kilometers long and included 19 permanent and 10 flag stations. It connected the then towns of La Paz and Jaro (now districts of Iloilo City), Pavia, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Pototan, Dingle, Dueñas, and Passi in Iloilo, and Dumarao, Dao, Panitan, Cuartero, and Loctugan in Capiz. It reached Roxas City.
In Iloilo City, the trains ended at the passenger terminal along the wharf next to the Customs House and near where the current Iloilo City Hall stands. Trains ran across what is now the Drilon Bridge from La Paz and down the bank of the Iloilo River to Muelle Loney at the Port of Iloilo.
In 1980s, a 12-kilometer spur was constructed from Dueñas to Calinog, Iloilo to serve a sugar refinery in Iloilo./PN
