Press Release
June 19, 2014

Villar says PNR should improve train services,
prevent paralysis caused by transport strikes

Sen. Cynthia Villar in hailing the passage into law of the bill extending the operations of the Philippine National Railways, said once train services are improved in the country, transport strikes such as the one being held today in different parts of the country will not be a reason to leave thousands of commuters stranded.

"The transport strike and the thousand commuters affected show us how desperate our mass transport system is and the urgent need to improve alternative ways to move our people around," Villar said.

As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises, Villar labored for the extension of the PNR operation before the expiration of its franchise on June 19. It is one of the bills the Senate passed on Third Reading before its sine die adjournment.

"The passage into law ensures the continued operation of the cheapest form of transportation for Filipinos. Trains are the better form of transportation, it can not only carry more people, trains also don't have emission that pollutes the air we breathe," Villar said.

Compared to jeepneys and buses that charge P2 per kilometer, PNR provides the cheapest mode of transportation to our people by charging only 71 centavos per kilometer, Villar noted.

During her sponsorship of the committee report on the new PNR law, Villar emphasized that railways are superior to other modes of mass transportation in terms of minimal impact on environment and efficiency of land use.

"In congested nations with large urban populations, like here in the Philippines, the effort to match road capacity with exponential growth of vehicular traffic will always be a challenge. Railways use less land than the road sector, less polluting, and can generate high capacity at that," Villar said.

On Monday, President Aquino signed into law Republic Act 10638, which extends the charter of the PNR.

"We are glad extending the operation of PNR because we want to provide our people in the lowest-income bracket a transport system that they can afford," she added.

Villar said PNR should work to develop rail connectivity in the country, as practiced in developed countries like USA, Japan, Malaysia, India, and China.

"I appreciate the role of railway systems in bringing growth and development to our less-developed areas in far-flung provinces. In India, which operates one of the largest rail operations in the world, rail lines are run to serve the backward and less developed regions," Villar said.

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