Firm expects new proposals for Panay railway revival

ILOILO City – Panay Railway, Inc. (PRI) chief executive officer Atty. Averill Amor is expecting new “concrete” proposals for the Panay railway revival project from interested contractors in the coming weeks.

So far, only PhilTrack, a Philippine-based company, has submitted a proposal.

But Amor said it is not yet a concrete plan – it lacks financial and technical components, and is unable to address certain critical issues.

One of the issues involves the construction of bridges for the railway revival project. “We cautioned them to make a deeper study because the right of way is not entirely land,” Amor said. “There are 43 bridges that have not yet been factored into Philtrack’s proposal, and the same issues will have to be taken into consideration.”

Another issue that PhilTrack and other competing contractors will be facing is funding. Amor was very clear that all funding for any railway or hybrid railway project will come from private sources.

“The government would not like to spend any centavo for this project, and they don’t want to issue any government guarantee,” Amor said. “All funding will be done from private sources. So far Philtrack has no clear source of funds. They will also need to provide the name of their financiers and the total amount.”

Amor and PRI COO Cesar Capellan said that the PRI is still open to new proposals. However, the committees who will approve the project will prioritize those contractors that will use locally designed hybrid trains.

The unsolicited proposal process consists of the initial proposal, followed by the concrete proposal, and concludes with an analysis by the PRI, NEDA and ICC. Once these steps have been met, the chosen contractor will be given a contract for the project.

Aside from the project itself, Amor and Capellan also reports that a real estate development project will be carried out on behalf of tenants and settlers. who will be forced to relocate due to the project.

“Many have agreed to move out, and move into the special housing projects that they will have to pay for,” Amor said./PN