Pimentel seeks the establishment of a Mindanao Railways Corp.

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today sought the establishment of a Mindanao Railways Corporation (MRC), prescribing its powers, functions and duties and proposed to allocate an authorized capital of P100 billion to hasten the development of the entire archipelago.

He said the collective experience of Japan, Canada, the United States and most of Europe showed how railroad networks have spurred and sped up the national development of these highly developed nations around the world.

"In these nations, railroads opened up vast land areas for human settlement and made it possible to transport tremendous number of people and huge volume of goods at the lowest cost," said Pimentel in his explanatory note in Senate Bill No. 3095 filed last January 25.

He said the influx of people into areas previously unsettled, the easy mobility of the populace, and the availability of goods and services needed for civilized life resulted into higher productivity of the land and its people in those nations.

"A railroad network crisscrossing Mindanao will considerably shorten the travel time between Zamboanga and my hometown, Cagayan de Oro, or Davao and Cagayan de Oro," Pimentel added.

The railroad network, he said, would mean a reduction of the travel cost for the people and for the transportation cost of the goods whose end destination is the Visayas or Luzon, or beyond our northern shores, or vice versa.

"We must benefit from the experience of other countries whose railway systems up to today provide people and goods the cheapest and fastest way of mass transit movement," said Pimentel, who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

The MRC would exist for a term of fifty years under government ownership, being a factor for socio-economic development and growth and as part of the national government's infrastructure program, he said.

The proposed authorized capital stock of the MRC is P100 billion divided into P500 million common shares all with par value of P200 each, fully subscribed by the national government and other public institutions, of which P20 billion would be initially paid up by the government.

He said the balance of not less than P2 billion would be paid from a continuing annual appropriation out of any funds of the national treasury not otherwise appropriated until the authorized capital subscribed by the government would have been paid in full.

The proposed MRC would be authorized to secure loans and credits under the administration of a board of directors, headed by a chairman who would be appointed by the President. It would be exempted from the control of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Pimentel proposed to establish the main office of the MRC, which would become an attached agency of the Department of Transportation and Communication, in Cagayan de Oro City. It would be authorized to own or operate railroad trainways, subways, bus lines, trucklines, vessels and pipelines.