Lawmakers call for railway modernization
Transportation is about moving people and goods—not just vehicles, according to two lawmakers who are pushing for the modernization of the country’s railway systems.
Bayan Muna Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate said the Philippines required a stable and efficient railway network in order to maintain economic growth.
“It is very interesting to note that all developed countries have a robust railway network that is very much essential in transporting goods and people, and is a vital cog to their consistent and sustained economic development,” they said.
The two are authors of a bill repealing Republic Act No. 8794 and abolishing the road users tax, or the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge, and rechanneling the special fund for the rehabilitation, maintenance and development of railway systems.
In an explanatory note, Colmenares and Zarate said Metro Manila, among many urban centers, was suffering from heavy traffic every day due to the sheer volume of vehicles, a situation made worse by the “dilapidated railway system.”
They recalled that the Philippine National Railways (PNR) used to operate a 1,100-kilometer route from La Union province up to the Bicol region. But decades of neglect reduced PNR’s efficiency and coverage.
“Aside from PNR, which mainly operates in Luzon, there are two previous railway networks in Panay and Cebu which ceased to operate decades ago,” they added.
“The government should reorient its mind-set in transportation. It should be about moving people and goods and not just vehicles,” Colmenares and Zarate said.
The lawmakers said that from 2001 to 2012, road users tax collections amounted to P90.7-billion, but the tax allocation in the national budget “has never been itemized, making the funds collected from car registration payments as lump-sum monies not subjected to congressional scrutiny.”
