Villafuerte raps Transport Dept. on Naga airport, PNR Bicol delays

CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte has complained to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) about the inordinate delay in the expansion and improvement of the Naga Airport as well as the rollout of the Philippine National Railways’ South Long Haul (PNR Bicol)project.

Villafuerte mentioned these at the recent Commission on Appointments (CA) committee hearing on the designation of DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista.

The solon bewailed that even though the past administrations had already set aside funds for the modernization of the Naga Airport, this project has failed to take off up to now because of the failure of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to actively participate in the protracted legal battle over the expropriation of private lands to be covered by the extension of this airport’s runway.

Villafuerte, the CA majority leader, also complained to Bautista that despite the PNR Bicol project being a priority undertaking of the Duterte administration under its centerpiece program “Build, Build, Build,” this railway plan has failed to move forward after the initial reports the project would be funded mainly by China and built by a joint venture (JV) of three Chinese companies.

He was referring to the reported signing last January 2022 of aMemorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOTr and the JV firms China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. (CREC JV).

This was on a P142-billion DesignBuild contract for the design and construction of Phase 1 of this PNR Bicol project, which will cover a 380-kilometer (km) railway from Calamba, Laguna to Daraga, Albay.