Duterte vow to revive Panay railway hailed
The revival of the railway system in Panay island proves that President Rodrigo Duterte is committed to national healing and building, Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Trenas said Sunday.
He expressed optimism that the rail project, which will link the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan, would further boost the economy not only of Panay but the entire Western Visayas.
"His commitment to finally realize our dream of reviving our railway system in Panay is definitely welcome news. I think that this is best proof that the President has moved on from last election's partisan wrangling. Everyone should now do the same so that the president can fully focus in his job of healing and building our nation," Trenas said.
Panay is the bailiwick of President Duterte's closest rival, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas.
"This railway system will allow us to showcase other beautiful tourism spots other than Boracay. From Caticlan, tourists can simply take the train and proceed to other beautiful places in Panay island," Trenas said.
The Panay Railway system was built in 1906 but was dismantled in the early 80's.
Trenas said he does not see any problems in starting the project since all the necessary groundwork required, including the technical and logistical studies, have been completed.
He said as early as 2011, the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Western Visayas has approved the revival plan of the Panay Railway and a technical working group has already drawn up the plans needed to make it happen.
"This has been in drawing board for quite some time now and I'm just glad that it can now be implemented. The project itself can be actually implemented through Build Operate Transfer (BOT) or through Private Public Partnership (PPP) without any problem to save on project cost because I know that there's a lot of people who wants to take part on this project," Trenas said.
Western Visayas is one of the country's biggest supplier of seafood, fruits and agricultural products and it is also one of the country's major tourism hubs.