PHL doubles efforts to finish rail projects as traffic hurts growth

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday said his government is working double time to fast-track railway projects as traffic gridlocks in the capital region alone cost billions of pesos in lost opportunities per day.

“Anyone can use trains, that’s why it’s the only solution,” he said in Filipino during a town hall meeting on the country’s traffic problems, noting that the National Government seeks to shift the mode of transportation to rails from buses, jeepneys, and private cars.

Mr. Marcos reported the progress of ongoing railway projects, including the proposed Metro Manila Subway, which he said was now 41% complete.

The completion rates for the two components of the 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project — the Tutuban-Malolos and Malolos-Clark sections — have already hit over 50%, he said.

Mr. Marcos said the proposed NSCR’s South Extension, which connects Manila to Calamba, Laguna, was already 38%.

The completion rate for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 Cavite Extension stood at 80%; 85% for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3; and 83% for the Unified Grand Central Station.

The MRT Line 7, which runs from Quezon City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan province, is 67% completed.

Citing a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Mr. Marcos said traffic congestion in the capital region costs the Philippine economy at least P3.5 billion daily or P1.27 trillion annually.

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“If we do not do anything, the cost will increase to P9 billion for each day,” he said.

“The only solution to this is the mass transit system, that’s why we are fast-tracking (the projects). That’s our priority in terms of infrastructure against traffic congestion.”

In a statement, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) outlined its traffic decongestion plan which focuses on the improvement and expansion of the national road network by building additional by-passes, diversion roads, expressways, flyovers, interchanges and underpasses.

“DPWH will continue to develop and conduct further study on infrastructure projects that will alleviate traffic in Metro Manila in coordination with various stakeholders,” Public Works Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan said in a statement.

However, Terry L. Ridon, convenor of InfraWatchPH, said the government should clarify how it is “working double time” to fast-track railway projects.

“Is it expanding personnel working on the various project sites or is it now expediting and expanding the orders for construction materials for these projects?” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“If these things are not yet currently being done, ‘working double time’ does not really mean anything as yet.”

At the same meeting, Mr. Marcos said he wants local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila to come up with common traffic management to lessen confusion among stakeholders.

“We must consider the road system and the mass transit system in Metro Manila as one system. And one system feeds into another,” he said.

Mr. Marcos said his government seeks to expand areas allowed for the country’s 15 million motorcycle riders.

“We’re trying to see what are the other areas, high-traffic areas, where our motorcycle services could expand.”

He said the government is also considering barring road works during daytime to avoid heavy traffic. He also expressed concern over the prevalence of vehicles plying the roads without necessary permits.

NO EXTENSION

Mr. Marcos, meanwhile, said he would no longer extend the deadline for the franchise consolidation under the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), which was already extended in late January.

“There will be no more extensions under the PUVMP. This extension is final,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said, adding that consolidation of transport workers into a cooperative will help address traffic congestion.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board earlier said 190,000 public utility vehicles units, including UV Express, jeepneys, mini-buses, and buses, have availed of consolidation.

Mr. Marcos also cited the need to decongest Metro Manila by creating more regional centers and creating more roads outside the capital region, which is home to over 13 million people.

The President cited an interlink bridge project that seeks to cut travel time from Bataan in Central Luzon to Cavite to just 30-45 minutes from 4 to 5 hours.

Mr. Bautista said the first phase of the proposed Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge is expected to begin soon, amid questions on its progress after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) changed the cost and the timeline for the project.

The project would cost P219.3 billion, up from the initial cost of P175.6 billion, NEDA said in October last year, adding that the implementation period may reach December 2029. The project was earlier projected to begin construction in late 2023.

“The procurement would already start,” Mr. Bautista told reporters on the sidelines of the town hall meeting.

Mr. Bonoan said the DPWH will be bidding out the first two out of the six segments by the first semester. The next two segments may be bid out in the third quarter.

Traffic solutions have so far been focused on Metro Manila, Mr. Marcos said, citing the need to craft similar solutions for other urban centers such as Cebu City in central Philippines and Davao City in the country’s south.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the government encourages businessmen to invest in key areas outside the capital region such as Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas.

He also cited Bulacan, Pampanga, Laoag, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, and General Santos City.

Public services in the countryside such as healthcare should also be improved to lessen the demand for services in Metro Manila, the NEDA chief said.

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Source: Business World

Why should any city want to host a World Expo?

The World Expo might have a quaint quality for many in the English-speaking world —

but in large parts of the world, the exhibitions are still big business — and increasingly, politically fraught.

The expo is considered by many governments to be, along with the Olympic Games and football’s World Cup, one of the “big three” events that can elevate a country’s global standing.

That was the goal of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose country has hosted two of the three events and aimed to complete the trifecta with a 2030 Expo in the second city of Busan. Despite enlisting boyband BTS and Gangnam Style performer Psy, as well as meeting nearly 100 world leaders to bolster support, Busan’s bid was trounced by Riyadh in a vote that shocked the country, with Saudi Arabia claiming 119 ballots to 29. (Rome fared even worse, with 17.)

Riyadh’s oil wealth may have helped, with plans to spend $7.8 billion on the expo as the country touts itself as a tourism destination. Images from the disastrous World Scout Jamboree held in South Korea this summer won’t have helped. Nonetheless, Mr. Yoon’s administration is now facing serious political blowback, with the already unpopular leader forced into a humiliating apology. “Everything was due to my own shortcomings,” he told reporters. “I am very sorry for having disappointed the citizens of Busan, as well as the rest of the nation.”

Further east, officials in Japan’s second city of Osaka are facing similar concerns. Advance tickets went on sale last week for the 2025 World Expo, which starts in less than 500 days. The 1970 event there is fondly remembered for drawing a near-record 64 million visitors, with Taro Okamoto’s unnerving Tower of the Sun statue remaining an instantly recognizable icon of glories past. The city is trying to recapture that magic with Myaku-Myaku, a multi-eyed Lovecraftian monster serving as the expo’s immediately recognizable mascot.

But all’s not well. Amid soaring construction costs, some countries have withdrawn their participation in Osaka. The projected budget has nearly doubled, and netizens and opposition politicians are calling for a cancellation. A poll last month found more than two-thirds of those surveyed agreed that expo isn’t needed; in another, some 69% polled said they don’t want to attend the event.

You wonder why some even bother trying. Politicians rarely get rewarded for hosting successful events but are left holding the bag for those that go badly. Former Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga navigated the coronavirus pandemic to successfully stage the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, and despite vocal opposition beforehand, polls afterward found 70% agreed they had been worth holding. That didn’t help Mr. Suga’s own ratings, though, with the leader resigning shortly after.

Big events are hard to pull off. But that doesn’t mean organizers are wrong to try. Osaka might not get the 64 million visitors of 1970, but it’s still expected to get 28 million in 2025. As my colleague Matthew Brooker has noted over the 2012 London Olympics, while it might not have been the most efficient use of money, it was the only one that was available.

Skepticism over the World Expo in particular goes back to the very first event, in 1851, which Ultra-Tory politician Colonel Charles Sibthorp denounced as “one of the greatest humbugs, frauds and absurdities ever known.” It was a success nonetheless, with the Crystal Palace that hosted the “Great Exhibition” becoming an iconic London destination for decades. Many expo locations have similarly avoided passing into parody like the Sunsphere, from the Eiffel Tower to Seattle’s Space Needle. In Japan’s case, the grounds of the 2005 Nagoya Expo have recently been reborn as Ghibli Park, while Yumeshima, the artificial island set to host the Osaka event, will become the site of the country’s first casino.

Just as the 2010 Shanghai Expo helped showcase China to the outside world, 2025 similarly comes at a good moment for Osaka. A run-down city center has been transformed over the past decade, aided by tourist dollars. This will be capped next year when a former cargo yard near the city’s main station, a massive stretch of prime real estate that has lain shamefully dormant for three decades, will finally reopen as a park and multiuse development.

Busan, which also frequently lives in the shadow of the larger capital of Seoul, could do with the same boost — and should return for a 2035 bid, as officials are hinting. Indeed, Asian nations should grab these events when they’re available, because increasingly they’re going to freer-spending Middle Eastern countries instead.   

Following Qatar’s success in 2022, the 2034 World Cup is almost certain to head to Saudi Arabia in a controversially uncontested bid. The country will also host the FIFA Club World Cup this year and the finals of the revamped Asia Champions League for up to five years. While competing with the oil wealth of these rivals is impossible, there are also other failures that have nothing to do with spending: In the case of the Winter Olympics, while it’s not Middle Eastern countries that are taking over, bad press from bid-rigging during the Tokyo Games tanked Sapporo’s bids, with the Hokkaido city likely to lose out not just on the 2030 Winter Olympics, but also 2034.

Public wariness is understandable. But we’ve seen time and again how pre-event doom over major events fails to materialize — from the supposed “Olympic variant” of Covid-19 that would spread from the Tokyo Games, to the feared “beer shortage” during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Neither happened. Osaka should celebrate its hosting — and despite the current skepticism, the public should back it. Busan, too, should regroup for a 2035 bid. Neither nation might have the chance again soon.

Japan credit firm affirms ‘A’ rating on PH

Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCRA) on Monday affirmed its A-level credit rating with a stable outlook on the Philippines, citing partly government measures to address the pandemic’s impact on the health system and the economy.

“The ratings mainly reflect the country’s high and sustainable economic growth performance underpinned by solid domestic demand, its reliance to external shocks supported by an external debt kept low relative to GDP (gross domestic product) and the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, the government’s solid fiscal position, and sound banking sector,” it said in a statement.

The rating affirmation came nearly 15 months after JCRA upgraded its ratings on the Philippines to A-level on June 11, 2020, on the belief that the economy would be able to weather the impact of the virus-induced pandemic.

In its report, the Japan-based debt watcher said the recovery of economic activities is delayed as a result of movement restrictions needed to address the further spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), especially given the more contagious Delta variant.

“However, the government has been swiftly implementing adequate measures such as increased public health-related expenditure, acceleration of vaccination, and continuation of employment program(s) by drawing upon its relatively strong fiscal position before the pandemic,” it said.

The credit rater said it “does not consider that the fiscal soundness will be impaired because while the fiscal deficit has widened, the support package at this time is backed by appropriate fiscal policies and the government debt will remain comparatively subdued.”

"The Duterte administration's centerpiece infrastructure development program has not been retarded even amid the prolonged pandemic," it added.

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Source: Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCRA)