GORDON SEES SUNRISE INSTEAD OF SUNSET IF THE GOV'T SPENDS MORE ON RAILROADS

With the construction of railroads costing P1-billion per kilometer, Senator Richard J. Gordon called on the government to allot more funds to the construction of new railroad systems across the country and to the restoration of existing railways to usher in further growth and development.

During the preliminary budget hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance, Gordon said he wants more support to get the railroads going because it would ratchet up the country's industrial development.

"If you build that railway in Mindanao, and that is one of our bills here, and you restore the existing railroads, you can pump-prime the economy and correlate it with the jobs it will create. I don't see that kind of budget support that we need to really ratchet up our industrial development. But if you put in more money and so long as you can start these programs right away, I think there will be a sunrise for all sectors, like construction, engineering, transportation, new investments in new areas, employment and livelihood growth, property development, and more revenue for local government units," he stressed.

The senator pointed out that railroads will facilitate the movement of goods and thus contribute to the country's economic development because all the areas that trains will pass through would be able to ship their goods faster and more efficiently.

Earlier, Gordon said having a railway in Mindanao would bring in much-needed development in the island that is tagged as "Land of Promise."

"Aside from providing cost-efficient and speedy means of travel for people, trains also facilitate trade and commerce through the transport of cargo and agricultural products, promoting tourism, providing jobs, and relieving traffic, among others. Trains contributed largely to the economic development of countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Korea and others. In America, the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 made possible a six-day trip from New York to San Francisco, helped shape the landscape and geography, brought thousands of westward-bound immigrants to the American West and opened new townships," he said.

Gordon made the statement during a hearing that the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises earlier conducted jointly with the Committees on Public Services; Ways and Means; and Finance on measures calling for the creation of an agency that would oversee the construction and operation of the Mindanao railway; and for the restoration and rehabilitation of the existing lines of the Philippine National Railways.

"If we have a train in Mindanao, the construction, alone, would provide jobs. Once it is operational, the farmers there will be able to move their products easier. It would create opportunities for Mindanaoans. I have always believed that the rebellion in Mindanao is spurred by the lack of opportunities produced by the absence of proper governance there. It is difficult for farmers to bring their produce to the market and there is insufficient means of livelihood that's why people there turn to guns," the senator said.

"We already had trains as early as the 1880s. We had trains going from the Tutuban Central Terminal to as far as Damortis in La Union and Legazpi City in Bicol. We even had trains in Cebu, Panay and Negros. But we let them go. If we improve our railways system and create new ones, we will not only spur development, but also decongest Metro Manila and the other congested urbanized cities across the country. It will also promote tourism," he added. Gordon's Senate Bill No. 103 or the Mindanao Railway Act aims to create the Mindanao Railway Corporation, an agency that would be authorized to establish and maintain an efficient railway system, will be among the proposed measures to be taken up.

In the bill, the senator explained that to invest money and time in the Mindanao Railway System would be risky beyond anything ever before attempted, but once completed, it would link the entire island of Mindanao, forever changing the nature of Mindanao's politics and economy.