Antipolo City 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop is willing to bet with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary for Railway Cesar Chavez that the much-anticiapted Metro Manila Subway Project won't be completed on time.
Acop had this to say during the House Committee on Transportation hearing Thursday, Feb. 16, wherein he cited the department's slow acquisition of right-of-way (ROW) for such big-ticket projects.
"Kasi napapansin ko kapag binasa ko lahat ng project, ang laki na ng delay natin eh (What I've noticed is that when I read about all these projects, the delays have been accumulating). Now we have the subway rail which would be finished by 2028 according to your pronouncements," Acop told Chavez during the hearing, which tackled updates on all ongoing railway projects of the DOTr.
"Pero, magpustahan po tayo siguro, Usec, hindi matatapos ng 2028 yan because of issues (But I'll take you in a bet, Usec, that the project won't get finished in 2028 because of ROW issues)," said the veteran lawmaker, who happened to be the committee chairman.
Acop went on to vent his frustration as to why ROW acquisition always seems to take a backseat to the procurement of materials for a raiwlay project.
"Kasi nakikita ko yung pattern, ROW palagi yung nagiging dahilan . Kaya nga yung sinasabi ko, bago tayo gagawa ng bahay, bibili muna tayo ng lupa kung saan nating gagawin yung bahay (Because I've seen the pattern, ROW is always the reason for delays. That's why I've been saying that before we build a house, let's buy the land first on which we will build the house).
"Dito, nauuna yung gumagawa tayo ng bahay, yung materyales, wala naman lupa tayong paggagawan ng bahay...simpleng simple lang yung analogy ko eh (But here, we build the house first and buy the materials every if there's no land yet...my analogy is very simple)," Acop said.
"Sa nakikita ko, delay ang nangyayari dito sa lahat ng projects under the railway system of the Philippines (Based on what I'm seeing, all projects under the railway system of the Philippines will encounter delays)," he added.
To this Chavez replied, "Agree with you completely, Mr. Chair."
The P488-billion Metro Manila Subway will have 17 stations that will traverse Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque. It is expected to serve as many as 800,000 riders daily.
Chavez went on to acknowledge two major challenges hounding the railway sector.
"As early as July 12, 2022, Cabinet meeting, we reported to the President...the causes of the delays. One is funding. Shortage of funds," he said.
He said the lack of ample funding has led to contractors being paid anywhere from six months to two years late, which causes them to scale back or slow down with their project construction.
ROW acquisition is the other major cause of delay, Chavez said.
"Napaka kumplikado ho ng , kaya nga po sinasabi namin kanina, baka magkaroon ng isang legislation or even an initiative within the executive department na bago magkaroon ng procurement sa mga contactor, at least 70 percent of the ROW is already acquired (ROW is very complicated, that's why we mentioned earlier, maybe there could be a legislation or even an initiative within the executive department saying that at least 70 percent of the ROW is already acquired before a procurement with contractors is made)," he said.