Robredo presidency to usher golden age of Mindanao infra, says solon

FILE PHOTO: Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. (From Rodriguez’s FB page)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The building of Mindanao’s strategic infrastructure could take fuller steam if Vice President Leni Robredo is elected into the presidency, a lawmaker said.

House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez told the Inquirer that included in Robredo’s Mindanao agenda are “game-changing projects” such as the building of railways, highways, airports and ports that will connect its regional economies as well as integrate these into the larger national and global market.

“I believe we will see a golden age of Mindanao infrastructure under her presidency. Mindanao has been left behind in infrastructure,” Rodriguez noted.

Rodriguez, along with members of the Centrist Democratic Party which he heads, met with Robredo here on Wednesday, the first since his party announced its support for her presidential bid.

During the meeting, Rodriguez said Robredo underscored the need for Mindanao to catch up on infrastructure building.

Rodriguez noted that the first Mindanao railway project was between Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities in Northern Mindanao which cater to the largest volume of passenger and cargo traffic, per a study in 2008.

The initiative was not able to take off beyond the completion of the study hence denying Mindanao the opportunity to experience economic expansion and inclusive growth, he lamented.

Rodriguez said this could surely be revived, alongside the completion of the one in the Davao region, and expanded throughout the rest of Mindanao with the country’s top leader in Robredo recognizing its importance.

Further, Rodriguez said Robredo also recognized the need to rehabilitate the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric power generation complex in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur provinces in order to help “sustainably lower the cost of electricity” in the region.

“This will surely help micro, small and medium-scale enterprises recover from the (economic) effects of the pandemic,” he explained.

The Agus and Pulangi assets have a combined capacity of some 1,000 megawatts, Rodriguez noted. But the aging plants run on a small fraction of their old capacities, making Mindanao dependent on coal-fed plants for at least half its 1,800-MW requirement.

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