The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has yet to determine whether the financing requirement to build the first Tagum City-Davao City-Digos City (TDD) segment of the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) will come from a foreign loan or should it be a public-private partnership (PPP).
In an interview with MindaNews on Tuesday, MinDA Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro said that the DOTr is currently discussing the possible funding source of the railway project but stated that there are international groups expressing interest to finance it.
Last October 2023, Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista announced that the Philippine government would no longer pursue negotiations with the Chinese Government for official development assistance (ODA).
“That’s why, DOTR needs to come up fast with these terms because from what we understand, there are quite several interests already being put forward by some international investors intending to pursue Phase 1 of the Mindanao Railway – Tagum-Davao City-Digos. This is the easiest to pursue because there is already a feasibility study. Just adjustments to the realignment,” Montenegro said.
During the Mindanao Development Forum at the Acacia Hotel last July 2024, MinDA Secretary Leo Tereso Magno said that two firms from South Korea and one from Japan have initially shown intent to pursue the project, which was started during the administration of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
In the interview, Montenegro said the national government may consider modifying the TDD segment “to attune the adjustments to the constraint that it faced during the original design.”
He said that the process for constructing the first segment has been “restarted” after the previous attempt to implement the original design failed.
MinDA also expects the new design to revert to the original proposal of a two-track, electric-powered railway system, replacing the single-track diesel-run system approved during the Duterte administration.
Montenegro said initial studies for other segments of MRP have already commenced, particularly Phase 2 from Tagum to Butuan City, and Phase 3, from Cagayan de Oro City to Iligan City.
“It will require several years for a railway to be completed. But from what we understand, efforts are being done to pursue Phase 1,” he said.
Montenegro said that the current Marcos Jr. administration is changing the technical description of the project from a diesel-powered railway to a more modern railway system utilizing a technology that will run on electricity.
He said that the government wants to build a railway project that could carry cargoes and not just passengers to help move goods from different farms, which will boost the agricultural sector of Mindanao.
Magno said that under the previous technical description, the proposed railway project could only carry passengers.
According to the DOTr, the cost of the entire Tagum-Davao-Digos (TDD) line is pegged at P81.7 billion.
The stations of the proposed TDD line will be located in Tagum, Carmen, and Panabo in Davao del Norte; Mudiang, Maa, and Toril in Davao City; and Santa Cruz and Digos City in Davao del Sur.
DOTr said the TDD segment will reduce travel time between Tagum and Digos from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours and will provide “passengers safe, fast, and reliable transport options on the TDD commuter line.”
A flagship project of the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, the railway was originally targeted to be completed in 2021, and expected to serve approximately 134,000 riders a day by 2022, up to 237,000 by 2032, and 375,000 by 2042. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
