NARITO ang huling bahagi ng pagtatanong na ginawa ni Senador Risa Hontiveros kay Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon tungkol sa mga plano ng Department of Transportation sa hinaharap na ginanap sa pagdinig ng Commission on Appointment (CA) kamakailan.
Transit-oriented development or TOD master plans
SRH: That’s good to hear po, Sec. (Vince Dizon), Madam Chair (Representative Lani Mercado). At sana kung hindi man yung buong Davao Modern Bus System, kahit elements po nito. But probably the Department is already, I hope, thinking about it. Yung elements ng modern bus system, baka pwede pag-isipan para sa iba niyo pang pilot areas pati sa Visayas at Luzon.
Sige po, dako na ako sa transit-oriented development. So yung bulto ng mga kotseng nagsisiksikan dito sa Metro Manila ay galing din pala sa mga residential suburbs ng Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Cavite at Laguna, ayon sa mga pag-aaral ng JICA at DOTr.
So kasama na po ba sa vision ng DOTr under your leadership at kaya niyo po bang magbuo ng transit-oriented development or TOD master plans together with DSHUD (Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development), NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) o DepDev (Department of Economy, Planning and Development) ngayon at local government units (LGUs)?
Secretary Dizon: Opo, napakaganda po ma’am ng transport-oriented development. Dahil nga po ang pinaka-isa po sa mga bansang pinakamagaling sa transport-oriented development ay ang Japan. Yan po ay makikita natin sa kanilang mga riles all over the country. And we are very fortunate na ang magpopondo po ng ating major North-South Commuter Rail from Calamba to Clark ay ang JICA.
At kasama po sa master plan ng North-South Commuter Rail ay mga packets of transport-oriented development sa mga iba’t iba pong istasyon. Just to name a few ma’am, unang-una po doon po sa bagong Senate Building, that is one major example of a master plan transport-oriented development.
Kasama din po natin diyan ang Department of Education dahil meron po silang lupa doon malapit sa New Senate Building sa BGC. Magpipirmahan nga po kami ng MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) ni Secretary Sonny Angara para magkasama ang mga iba’t-ibang ahensya para iplanong mabuti ang magiging maliit na township around the Senate Building.
Kasi po katabing-katabi po ng Senate Building ay yung subway station po sa may malapit sa Lawton Avenue. Pero ang maganda din po sa Senate Building area, malapit din po siya sa istasyon din po ng NSCR (North-South Commuter Railway). Kaya mayroon din pong istasyon doon para po kung mayroon pong, halimbawa, mga empleyado ng Senado na nakatira sa Bulacan, eh magte-tren na lang po sila mula Bulacan o kahit Pampanga, bababa na po sila na malapit sa Senate Building na bago.
Meron din pong transport-oriented development sa maraming bayan sa Bulacan, nahihintuan ng NSCR tulad ng Marilao, tulad ng Malolos. Sa Pampanga naman po meron din po sa Apalit, San Fernando at sa Angeles. So maraming pockets dito na tinutulungan po tayo ng ating Japanese partners na ma-develop. Siyempre po together with the local developers in the country who have expressed their interest in developing pockets along the NSCR alignment doon po sa mga major stations.
SRH: Just a last follow-up doon sa nasagot niyo na Sec. May master plans ba ‘to or which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Nagtatayo yung istasyon, nagkakataon magkatabi sa istasyon ng iba pang system? Or kasama ba ng DepDev? Kasi NEDA yung orig na nag-advocate ng transit-oriented development, panahon pa ng Duterte administration.
So nauuna ba ang isang master plan or nagkakataon na yun yung mga istasyon, then kino-connect the dots niyo na lang? And ang DHSUD ba mayroon ng papel sa process na ito?
Secretary Dizon: Ma’am, actually may master plan po and the master plan po was actually approved by NEDA at that time para dito sa NSCR at para sa subway. At kasama po sa master plan talaga ang identified transit-oriented development areas and stations. Kasama po yun, yun na rin po sinama sa pag-aaral ng JICA at ng ADB at least para dito sa NSCR at para sa subway. Identified po lahat dyan yung mga areas na tingin ng ating mga consultants at mga partners na viable as a TOD area.
So on the part of DSHUD naman po ma’am, kasama po namin lagi ang DSHUD, alam nyo naman po na kailangan nating mag-relocate lalo na kapag naga-acquire po tayo ng right-of-way ng mga informal settler families. Napakalaki po ng role ng DSHUD sa pagpaplano po noon.
SRH: Salamat Sec. At dahil kapartner niyo ang DSHUD, I hope and I want to presume na yung relocation na pagpaplanuhan at pati po yung mga maaaring kailangan i-relocate na informal settlers ay bahagi ng TOD kasi bahagi sila sa pwedeng ma-disperse yung economic activities and then access sa mga social services natin. Salamat po.
Yung tanong ko sa no-contact apprehension policy, i-submit ko na lang din po in writing in the interest of time. So dako na ako dun sa high logistics costs constraining economic growth. So kaugnay din po ng port fees and charges.
So while most cargo carried by maritime shipping is part of international trade, active internal trade is present in countries with long coastlines or that are archipelagic such as the Philippines. Kaya importante iyon, I think nabanggit niyo rin indirectly yung inter-island shipping lalo na sa Visayas. So yung cabotage law.
Generally, it is cheaper to transport goods by ship, hence the creation then of the so-called Philippine Nautical Highway. However, in a previous hearing, industry stakeholders, including the Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association, alleged that the bidding and award of port management contracts to private entities led to an increase in port charges by as much as 500% to even 2,000%.
As found by the NEDA or the DepDev now, as embodied in the Philippine Development Plan, there’s a need to reduce the cost of logistics which takes up 27% of the revenues of manufacturing firms in the Philippines as compared to Indonesia 21%, Vietnam, 16% and Thailand, 11%.
So paano po ini-intend ng DOTr sa ilalim ng pamumuno ninyo na bawasan yung logistics costs in line din sa mga rekomendasyon ng DepDev?
Secretary Dizon: Ma’am, alam niyo po, and this is actually very timely po yung tanong ninyo. Just to give context po. So two Sundays ago I was in Tacloban helping out yung ongoing crisis doon dahil sa pagsara ng San Juanico Bridge to heavy vehicles. At dahil po doon there is a major logistics crisis. Not only in Samar and Leyte, but actually it has already engulfed Region 5, 6, 7, 8. Dahil nga po parang nabara po ang isang major artery po sa logistics natin because of the closure of San Juanico at nagkaroon na po ng problema.
And nakita ko po mismo firsthand na one major reason po ng high logistics cost is medyo may kulang po talaga tayo sa mga viable na ports na pag-gagamitan ng unang-una po mga roro vessels at ikagawa po ng mga magagalim na puerto para po sa mga goods. Dala na rin po ito dahil sa kakulangan na rin po ng resources siyempre ng gobyerno.
Pero tingin ko po isa sa mga magandang ginagawa po ngayon ng PPA ay ang pag-PPP ng mga iba’t ibang puerto para unang-una mabawasan ang gastos ng gobyerno dahil ang private operator na po ang magpapatakbo ng port na yun.
But it also needs to fulfill its mandate of regulating port fees. Tama po kayo doon ma’am. Kailangan po kahit na i-PPP yung mga ports, hindi naman pwedeng exorbitantly and unreasonably high kasi that will also affect the cost of logistics.
But the benefit po of doing PPPs for ports is not only will it reduce cost on government, it will also make the ports more efficient. Halimbawa po, to cite an example, yung Iloilo port, napakatagal na po yang nasa kamay ng gobyerno. Ang pumapasok po nung una ay 30,000 TEU lang po per year. Noong pong na-privatize po siya at nanalo ang ICTSI, umaabot na po ng 300,000 just in one year.
So the volume of goods, of containers that has come in and out of Iloilo has really exponentially increased from 30,000 to 300,000, nag-times 10 po agad in just one year just by doing a PPP.
Pero at the same time po kailangan po talagang i-ensure naman po, hindi naman po masyadong mabibigatan ang industry players.
So yun po ang plano natin. We will PPP our viable ports but at the same time use the savings generated from those PPPs dahil mababawasan po ang gastos ng PPA at ng gobyerno para mag-invest dun sa mga area naman po na kulang sa facilities na ito.
Halimbawa po, just to give an example, sorry for the lengthy response, but I think it’s important to note. Ito pong gagawin namin ngayon sa Tacloban is we are fixing a local port, an LGU port in the town of Basey, in Samar, yung Amandayehan Port.
Dahil po nakita namin na while Tacloban has a fully-functioning port na pwede pong pumunta ang mga roro vessels para magsakay ng mga truck at mag-transport ng goods to Leyte and back, ang Leyte po ay walang sasalo. Ang pinakamalapit po na sasalo ay Catbalogan po ang sasalo. Napakalayo po ng pupuntahan ng barko. Whereas ang Amandayehan sa Basey, 30 minutes lang po eh nakatawid na ang barko.
So we need more of these po. Unfortunately, kulang na kulang tayo dyan pero pipilitin po natin.
And by the way po, ang Amandayehan ramp eh matatapos na po today. So we started it last year, matatapos na po today, finast track po natin. And starting tomorrow, makakatawid na po ang mga roro-vessels na magdadala ng mga trucks with food, fuel and other essentials from Leyte to Samar and back. Thank you po ma’am.
SRH: Salamat din. I’ll leave that general question of mine at this for now, again in the interest of time.
But as you probably know, I’ve been on the case of the Philippine Port Authority for a few years now on various issues. Alam ko, and as you’re telling the committee now, ang daming mga concrete and potentially very useful elements for a longer term or broader solution. But parang something’s not clicking yet.
Pero sapat na po sa akin na buksan natin yung pag-uusap ngayon tungkol diyan and I look forward na the Senate or the whole Congress will be able to work with DOTr on that, continue to work with DOTr on that moving forward.
Before I get to my last question Madam Chair, dalawang follow-up question doon sa high port fees. Sabay ko nalang sabihin sa inyo Sec. para you can begin to respond to it for us. But then again I can leave it to further discussions later on.
May master plan po ba ang PPA tungkol sa port development? Paano niyo sisiguruhin na may sapat na pagpopondo ‘yan at support para sa mandate na yan?
Secretary Dizon: Salamat po ma’am. Doon po sa unang tanong Madam Chair, may master plan ang PPA. Ang master plan na po na yan ay popondahan with a combination of PPPs as well as national government funding, primarily funding from PPA itself. Dahil PPA is one of our more successful government-owned and controlled corporations, so they have their own funding for that. Meron po and we would gladly present, the PPA General Manager in fact is here behind me ma’am, and we would be very happy to present to you the master plan at your convenience and to all the other members of the Honorable Commission.
SRH: Salamat, Sec. Huling tanong ko tungkol sa Philippine Coast Guard. Recently, vessels of the Philippine Navy, BFAR, and Philippine Coast Guard were conducting patrol operations in the vicinity of Panatag Shoal when two Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy or PLAN vessels harassed them using dangerous maneuvers that could have resulted in a collision at sea.
So as we face these challenges, a Philippine Coast Guard survey of Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea showed a marine ecosystem with little to no more signs of life and a discolored seabed coinciding with the presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the area.
So ang huling tanong ko po para sa hearing na ito, isa sa mga functions ng Coast Guard ay yung maritime law enforcement and environmental protection. Given these challenges, paano maipagpapatuloy ng Coast Guard na effectively ma-carry out yung mandate nila by, among others, safeguarding vulnerable coral reef ecosystems at ‘yung pagbawas ng ecological damage gawa ng escalating territorial competition sa West Philippine Sea?
Secretary Dizon: Thank you very much ma’am, Madam Chair. Ang role po ng DOTr sa Coast Guard is really to provide all the administrative and logistical support. Yun operational authority kasi ay wala po talaga sa DOTr. Sa West Philippine Sea, that really is with the national security authority. Sila po ang nakikipag-usap sa Coast Guard. Ang role po talaga ng DOTr, kung ano po ang kailangan ng Coast Guard, kailangan pong ibigay ng DOTr.
And I’m very very happy to report to you and the Honorable Commission that very recently, mayroon po kasing matagal nang nakabinbin na proyekto. This is a European-French-funded purchase of 45 FastCraft para sa ating Philippine Coast Guard which they badly need to fulfill the mandate that you just so well described, ma’am, Madam Chair. We are happy to report po that this contract has already been signed two weeks ago lang po, witnessed by the French ambassador.
At yun pong mga ships na yan, kalhati po ay gagawin sa France, kalhati po ay gagawin sa Pilipinas, sa Cebu. At ang pagkakaalam ko po, yung una pong kalhati, yung 20 plus ay made-deliver po bago po matapos ang term ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos. Ito po ay matagal nang na-delay, pero ngayon po maibibigay na po natin sa ating Philippine Coast Guard.
Mayroon rin pong parating na dalawang malaking ships, kasing laki ng Magbanua ngayon na funded naman po ng JICA. Ito po ay 97-meter ship na mayroon pong lima na parating na rin po. At ang una po sa lima ay made-deliver na rin po bago matapos ang term ni President Marcos.
So yan po ang tuloy-tuloy na support na binibigay ng DOTr, kasama na rin po siyempre ng DOF at iba pang ahensya ng gobyerno para sa ating Philippine Coast Guard. Halaw sa ulat ng Senate of the Philippines
