House OKs bill for integrated national railways system

The House has unanimously passed on final reading a bill seeking to establish an integrated national railway system to ensure and sustain a balanced socio-economic development, Speaker Jose de Venecia announced yesterday.

De Venecia said approval of the proposed National Railways Act puts focus on the determination of the Arroyo administration to lift millions of Filipinos from poverty and push sustained economic development nationwide.

He praised members of both the majority and the minority in the House for promoting national interest by drawing up a major blueprint to ensure efficiency, economy and reliability in the transport and movement of goods, services and people, which are necessary to sustain economic growth.

He said earlier that rebuilding of the railways is expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs and will strengthen the manufacturing sector, including housing and its downstream industries, and sustain economic growth under the Arroyo administration.

The railway program is expected to infuse at least $700 million into the economy and complement the earlier approved mass housing pgram under the bill creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

De Venecia, who conceived of the Railways Act, said simultaneous construction of the North and South Lines could start as early as next January.

The North Line extends from Manila to San Fernando City, La Union, passing through the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan. The North Line runs from Manila to Sorsogon in the Bicol region.

During a visit last month, Chairman Li Peng of China’s National People’s Congress committed to De Venecia China’s participation in the building of railways and other infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

The Railways Act mandates the creation of the National Railway Authority (NRA), which will absorb the assets and functions of both the Philippine National Railways and the Light Rail Transit Authority, which will be abolished.

The measure requires that all existing qualified personnel of the PNR and LRTA covered by Civil Service Law shall be absorbed by the NRA.

Those incumbents whose positions are not included in the civil service coverage or who are not re-appointed shall be deemed separated or retired from the service under existing laws and regulations.