As the country loses P1.3 trillion per year due to traffic congestion, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday said the government has invested P7.74 trillion for the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program in order to address traffic woes in the country.

In a press briefing, Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said of the total investments, P 1.7 trillion are allotted for the railway projects until 2025.

Batan said the P1.277 trillion loss from traffic is from the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

“This is the reason under the Build, Build, Build program, the government allotted around P7 to P8 trillion for infrastructure projects,” he said.

Batan said most railway projects were largely funded through official development assistance (ODA) led by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) amounting to P796.58 billion followed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) amounting to P444.60 billion, Chinese government with P307.04 billion; Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with P107.76 billion and GAA-funded, P13.07 billion.

“It is a good thing that we use the ODA strategy as we were assured that our projects will continue despite the country is in a middle of fiscal crunch due to COVID-19,” he said.

The government has 11 railway projects. These are LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, LRT2 East Extension, LRT2 West Extension, MRT 3 Rehabilitation, MRT4 Project, Metro Manila Subway, Common Station, North-South Commuter Railway, Subic-Clark Railway, PNR South Long Haul Project and the Mindanao Railway Project.

Of the projects, JICA funded the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, LRT2 East Extension, MRT 3 Rehabilitation, Metro Manila Subway, and North-South Commuter Railway.

Batan said compared to other countries, the railway length in the Philippines is shorter at 77 km which is one of the reasons for traffic problems.

Batan said by 2022, the railway length will increase to 1,209 kilometers while there will be 168 stations and 1, 381 train cars.

“By 2022, some will be partially operable and some will be fully operational,” he said.

He said these railway infrastructure projects could cut the economic cost of traffic congestion by 10 percent. Ella Dionisio/DMS