BY LOUINE HOPE U. CONSERVA

BUSINESS LEADERS in Western Visayas remain hopeful of one day seeing a railway system chug through the region’s mainland, Panay.

Understanding the cost of such an undertaking, they bear no ill-feelings for the President, who mentioned the possibility of reviving Panay Railways during his first State of the Nation Address in July 2016, even though it was later excluded from the priority list for its “Golden Age of Infrastructure.”

As a result, although the project may no longer get the government’s full support, it could still be pursued through a public-private partnership, Iloilo Business Club Executive Director Lea E. Lara said.

“It entails a huge cost which would need an investment from a private partner,” she said in an interview.

Cesar S. Capellan, director of state-run Panay Railways, Inc., the firm that used to operate the 117-kilometer railway in the 1980s, earlier said that a Chinese firm has expressed interest to conduct a new feasibility for the project.

Ms. Lara said a thorough study would definitely be needed, particularly on the return on investment.

“If the revenue will solely depend on passenger fees without cargo, it will not be cost-effective to investors. It should be complemented by agricultural produce… It becomes a white elephant if we cannot sustain it,” she said.

The retired railway — which was constructed starting back in 1907 and closed down in 1983 — used to transport agricultural produce and other cargo within Panay Island, composed of the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and the city of Iloilo.

Ms. Lara said the business sector would like to see improved access between Iloilo City, the commercial and political center of Western Visayas, to other provinces to level economic development across the region.

“Anything that can improve the travel time would incredibly help. Having the railway would cut your travel time from four hours to only about 30 minutes to one hour,” she said.

Dona Rose O. Ratilla, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PCCI) Iloilo chapter, agrees that rehabilitating the railway would bring down transport cost and improve logistics, which would then motivate the agricultural sector.

“Farmers will be encouraged to produce more since they will have bigger markets,” Ms. Ratilla said, adding that PCCI-Iloilo is willing to pass a resolution expressing support to pursue the project.

“While there is still no definite plan for it, the concept of having it is there and we look forward to that. We also passed a resolution before in support of the Jalaur megadam,” she told BusinessWorld.

BEYOND BORACAY

Ms. Ratilla also said that a cheaper, faster and more convenient means of transport as provided by a rail system would give Panay provinces better opportunity to share in the tourists attracted by popular island destination Boracay, located off the mainland’s northwestern tip.

Western Visayas — which has a 5.5 million arrivals target this year, up from the actual 5.193 million tourists recorded in 2016 that brought in P114 billion in tourism receipts — has hit the two-million-visitor mark in the first half of 2017, based on partial data from the Department of Tourism’s regional office (DoT-6).

Aklan, including Boracay, continued to be the most visited province with 1.1 million tourists from January to June, followed by Iloilo City with 410,061 from January to May, and Bacolod City with 269,232 in the first four months.

However, Antique, which is adjacent to Panay and has diverse nature attractions, had just 43,277 tourists from January to March.

“DoT Region 6 takes into consideration these numbers because this is where we align our tourism products and services to make Western Visayas one destination with diverse culture,” said DoT-6 Regional Director Helen J. Catalbas, adding that campaigns are directed towards promoting areas that Boracay’s crowd could look into.

Antique Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao, also the chairperson of the Regional Development Council (RDC)-Western Visayas, said she, likewise, continues to look forward to having a railway in Panay.

“The train would be able to service even the far-flung areas in Antique,” she said.

Western Visayas’ gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate slowed down to 6.1% in 2016 from 8.3% in 2015, the second fastest that year.

The deceleration in 2016 is attributed mainly to a drop in the agriculture, hunting, and fishery sector’s performance, which DoT’s Ms. Catalbas said also has an impact on the tourism sector.

Ms. Catalbas said a broad review of data indicates that the net income from the 2016 tourism receipts could have been higher if dining establishments were able to source more local raw supply.

“This is money spent on products that came from outside Western Visayas,” she added.

Under the Western Visayas Regional Development Plan for 2017-2022, the end-period GRDP target growth rate is 9.8% to 11%. Among the main strategies to achieve this is expanding agri-fishery production, developing tourism circuits and destinations, and enhancing public infrastructure efficiency.

HIGHWAYS VS. RAILS

Iloilo Governor Arthur D. Defensor, Sr., meanwhile, pointed out that a feasibility study on the railway undertaken during the time of President Fidel V. Ramos indicated that the project would not be viable.

Highway-widening projects from Iloilo to Capiz continue to be undertaken, he said.

Nonetheless, he added, it would be worth finding out the real score through another formal assessment.

“I hope they can find ways to make these projects viable,” he said.

National Economic and Development Authority Western Visayas Regional Director Ro-Ann A. Bacal, for her part, said the construction of an expressway, instead of a railway, is being considered.

“We started talking to business groups and they expressed apprehensions on the multiple handling cost when it comes to the railway. They are thinking of an elevated expressway from Iloilo to Capiz,” she said.

Ms. Bacal stressed that various ideas are in the “conceptual stage” and will be undergoing brainstorming within the regional and national levels.

“We’ve been asking our representatives in Congress and even the local leaders on their thoughts about the idea of having an expressway or railway,” she said.

In the meantime, three big-ticket projects in Western Visayas have been listed under the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program: the Iloilo International Airport improvement amounting to P30.4 billion; Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge worth P27.156 billion; and the Panay River Basin Integrated Development Project in Capiz with a budget of P19.3 billion.

Ms. Bacal said the government is committed to implement these projects, possibly finish before the end of the Duterte administration, as they are considered “critical to make sure that the goals, objectives and target of PDP (Philippine Development Plan) are achieved.”

And for now, Panay’s community is looking forward to seeing these promised infrastructure get off the ground.

Louine Hope U. Conserva is BusinessWorld’s Mindanao correspondent.

BY  ARRA B. FRANCIA

METRO MANILA traffic continues to spawn Internet memes and has been the stuff of everyone’s rage, humor, and urban angst.

This can only be fueled by the daily congestion on EDSA, the Philippines’ busiest avenue, and the long lines at the MRT, the train system traversing the same highway.

In an area populated by over 12.5 million people combined with more than 2.5 million vehicles, traffic and the throng of people trying to avoid it have become nothing but the new normal.

In a bid to solve this perennial problem, the government crafted a plan to push businesses out of the metro and into the provinces. The idea was to establish other areas of development outside the country’s capital, so citizens would seek employment in their home provinces and minimize migrations to the big city.

In 2013, former President Benigno S. C. Aquino III led the groundbreaking for the first government-led project of this kind, called the Clark Green City in Pampanga. The National Economic and Development Authority had initially approved the master plan presented by state-run agency Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

Situated within 36,000 hectares of military base land rented by the United States until the Senate rejected an agreement to extend it in 1991, the sprawling 9,460-hectare development has been slated to become the next big business district outside Metro Manila.

Now called New Clark City (NCC) under President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration, the BCDA is once again set to submit a new master plan for the project, consisting of three phases that will run in the next 50 years.

MASTER PLAN FOR NEW CITY OUTSIDE METRO MANILA

While Metro Manila has practically no concrete master plan to speak of that would piece together the development of its 15 cities and municipalities, NCC has the BCDA, which is careful to avoid the errors that have caused the perennial Metro Manila traffic.

“I don’t see a comprehensive Metro Manila plan. What I see is an individual land use plan or master plan for each of the CBDs or municipalities here in Metro Manila so on that aspect you can see that they make their own plans without regards to the other plans kaya nagkakaproblema sa transportation, density development,” BCDA Senior Vice-President for Business Development and Operations Joshua M. Bingcang said in an interview.

The lack of a concrete master plan made Metro Manila the victim of its own progress and development.

In a report prepared by property consultancy firm Colliers International Philippines entitled “Shifting Orbits,” the company explained that the development of satellite master-planned communities would help relieve the metro of its population growth and poor public transport systems.

“These issues continue to constrain Metro Manila from achieving its full growth potential. Developers are bridging infrastructure gaps and unlocking opportunities by building master-planned communities that have the potential to become major catchment areas for business activities in the country’s capital,” read the Colliers report.

The blueprint for the entire development would allow BCDA to correctly time the sequence of projects for NCC. For instance, phase one would target only around 500 hectares out of the entire estate. This includes the infrastructure for power and water services, the construction of which is targeted to start by October this year.

“We’re just targeting core development,” Mr. Bingcang said.

Other than the necessary utilities, Phase 1 would also include at least five government buildings, three schools, and mixed-income housing projects. The first phase of development will span five years until 2022.

Another key component for the city would be the creation of a mass transport system that would remove people’s dependence on cars.

“So the top priority will be mass transportation and least priority will be cars. If we can discourage the use of cars in the city, we might as well do that. [Of course, we can’t just remove cars.] But we’ll provide an efficient mass transportation network,” Mr. Bingcang said.

The executive cited the current state of Bonifacio Global City (BGC) to exemplify the need for a mass transport system in a business district.

More than two decades since it was developed by the BCDA in partnership with the Ayala Group, the area is falling prey to the traffic problems in other areas in the metro, making travel in the 240-hectare estate more time-consuming than it’s supposed to be.

“We take pride here in BGC, we have a master plan here. But we still lack spaces for mass transportation [which is causing traffic because of the lack of mass transportation]. Unlike in Clark City, the priority, the hierarchy will be mass transportation,” Mr. Bingcang said.

Once in place, mass transport will make traveling easier for the 1.2 million citizens BCDA looks to attract. The cap for the city’s population will be put in place to ensure low density in the area, roughly comparable to the combined land masses of San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, and Pasay cities. In contrast, the population of the five cities combined currently stands at over three million.

“So we don’t foresee congestion on human population. So those are some of the features in our master plan, that we take note of the problems here in Metro Manila,” Mr. Bingcang said.

ALTERNATIVE TO METRO MANILA

With the master plan for its development already set, the next question to ask is whether companies would be willing to locate and expand into Clark.

Currently, Gotianun-led Filinvest Land, Inc. has two estates set to be developed in the Clark area, one of which is located inside NCC spanning 288 hectares. Meanwhile, another project called Clark Mimosa spanning 200 hectares is being pursued with Clark Development Corp.

“Most of our big-ticket projects now are in Clark, it’s for efficiency managing [them also]. The Clark airport, NCC, transportation requirements, the railway. [That’s the] necessity on why [companies] should be in Clark,” Mr. Bingcang said when asked why investors should take their expansion plans to the Pampanga area.

Several big-ticket projects under President Duterte’s aggressive “Build, Build, Build” program are located in Clark as the area has already been being eyed as the alternative to Metro Manila, given its congestion problems.

For instance, the P12.55-billion Clark International Airport expansion will be the among the first infrastructure projects to finally see progress following the government’s search for bidders for its operation and maintenance.

Additional capacity to be shouldered by the expansion of the Clark airport would be welcome relief, as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila has long been accommodating passengers well beyond its capacity. In 2016, NAIA reportedly handled 39.5 million passengers, higher by a third than its average capacity of 30.5 million.

The P300-billion railway project connecting Manila to Clark is also gaining ground, after the Department of Transportation named the first six stations for the project earlier this year. The transport department looks to start construction by the end of the year.

Moreover, major toll roads currently link Clark to other areas of growth. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) covering 93.77 kilometers has helped spur economic growth in the Central Luzon Region by reducing travel time from Clark to Subic to 40 minutes and Clark to Tarlac to 25 minutes.

The expressway also serves as the pathway linking Subic Seaport and Clark International Airport, pushing Central Luzon to trade directly with international markets.

The SCTEx has further prompted the construction of the 88-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, which aims to shorten travel time from Manila to northern parts of the country.

As long as the elements needed for Clark to accelerate its growth are properly set in motion, it may not be too long before the Philippines sees a new, world-class metropolis rise in Pampanga.

Arra B. Francia is a reporter for BusinessWorld. She covers the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission.