Sen. 'Tol' slams rail woes, hopes new DOTr chief fares better

During Friday’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas rally in Camarines Sur, re-electionist Senator Francis Tolentino voiced his frustration over the country’s long-standing rail problems.

“This has been discussed for a long time — both the north and south rail. For the LRT, we bought a new train that was bigger than the tracks; it turned out it doesn’t even fit,” Tolentino said in Filipino, recalling a 2022 controversy involving the procurement of three train sets from China that turned out to be incompatible with the existing Philippine National Railways (PNR) tracks.

A Senate hearing that year on the proposed P167.12-billion 2023 budget of the Department of Transportation revealed that PNR had procured train sets with a standard gauge, while the tracks run on a narrow gauge.

Then-Senator Grace Poe raised the issue during the hearing. Jeremy Regino, who was serving as PNR general manager, maintained that he had no involvement in the transaction, noting that the PNR board had decided on the acquisition. The procurement reportedly began in 2019, under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Tolentino also bemoaned the canceled rail projects tied to promised Chinese funding.

“China also promised the Mindanao Rail, but it didn’t push through. China also promised the Bicol line, and that didn’t push through either, he said.

DAILY TRIBUNE reported in November 2023 that the Department of Finance had informed Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian that the Philippines was withdrawing its request for official development assistance (ODA) for the P83-billion Mindanao Railway Phase 1 (Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment). Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s letter to the Chinese envoy did not provide details on why the government pulled out of the loan application.

“Perhaps there are other countries from which we can get more reasonable rates and more reasonable assistance. The timeline was supposed to be yesterday. We’ve been waiting a long time for this. The right-of-way was finished long ago. The Alabang–Calamba line is stalled. It’s closed. I don’t know what will happen there — perhaps we’ll lose the railways. The one thing that can truly solve all our problems is rail, the train,” Tolentino added.

He then expressed hope that newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon would tackle these pressing concerns. “I hope and pray that the new DoTr Secretary will address this issue,” Tolentino said.

Dizon, who assumed office on 13 February 2025 following Jaime Bautista’s resignation, has already outlined a plan to improve mass transit. He acknowledged the urgency of reducing long commuter hours and admitted that while overhauling the transport system will take time, there are short-term measures that can be implemented immediately.