Right of weigh

In 2008, the cute administration of Gloriaetta awarded a little known BOT toll road project to a company called PIDC, or Private Infrastructure Development Corp., a joint venture between the San Miguel conglomerate and the construction giant DMCI.

It was the 89-kilometer toll way that we now know as TPLEx, extending the expressway in northern Luzon (i.e. NLEx and the SCTEx) from Tarlac to La Union provinces, passing through the densely populated province of Pangasinan.

Take note: The government awarded the project more than six years ago. Today, as it turns out, the vital road project still must grapple with wearying problems over the so-called ROW—yes, the “right of way.”

From what I gathered, anticipating further delay in the government delivery of the ROW, the target date of completion for the relatively short 89-kilometer toll road, well, could still be moved to anytime beyond 2016.

Uh-oh, it would mean that our leader Benigno Simeon (a.k.a. BS) would already be out of the picture, as his term should end in 2016. It would also mean that the Aquino (Part II) administration would not leave a single infrastructure legacy, even one that it did not initiate like the TPLEx.

According to reports, the proponent PIDC nevertheless has been working hard to complete the first stage of the three-phased BOT project, which should be the stretch from Tarlac to Rosales town in Pangasinan.

Thus, it is now said that the first stage would most likely be completed and become operational by the end of this year. In fact, private business think tanks are already looking at prospects of more economic activities in the area along the first stage of the toll road.

For example, there is this group that pioneered the BOT concept for toll road operation in the country, and the same group is said to be already wrapping up a big package for a 500-hectare industrial park somewhere in Pangasinan.

Apparently, the group already saw the economic benefits from the toll road, since our dear DPWH itself, the Department of Public Work and Highways, estimated that the first stage alone could cut the travel time on the Tarlac-Rosales by about one and a half hours.

The DPWH projection even assumed that the travel time on the stretch, without the toll road, was only all of two hours, which could very well be too optimistic, particularly in the daytime when mobs of tricycles rule the main highway in those parts.

Anyway, the point is that infrastructure always stimulates economic activities. We all know that our country has already been left behind by most of our Asean neighbors in terms of infrastructure development, at least based on the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14 by the World Economic Forum, which calls itself an “independent” organization that tries to monitor world business and economic agenda.

The report put the Philippines on 98th place (out of 142 countries) in the infrastructure category, known as the “second pillar” in the global competitiveness of any country.

But here is the thing—in the “road network” sub-category, we placed 87th, in “railroad” at 89th, in “air transport” at 113th, and in the “port” category at 116th. Take a look at that—we have the poorest rating in ports infrastructure, ironically, and we only happen to be an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.

By the way, the report also revealed that we have so many airline seats available (both international and domestic flights), so much so that we placed a rather admirable 26th in the category. Despite the many airline seats available to foreign tourists, OFWs and business travellers, we still managed to have our main airport adjudged as the worst airport in the world.

By the way, it so happens that the airport is called the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, or Naia, named after the father of our dear leader, BS, and he does not seem to mind that Naia already belongs to the dark ages in world airport design.

Whether we like it or not, this country must think of ways to hasten infrastructure projects, because really now, our government seems to take forever just to weigh the right and wrong of a particular project.

For instance, the idea to build the TPLEx actually came up way back in 2006, and it took the government more than two years to award the BOT contract. From the awarding to actually construction, the project had to wait for about five years to get the initial—just the initial—ROW. Thus, in all likelihood, from the time we said that we wanted to build TPLEx to the time we could actually use it, we may have to wait for more than 10 years.

To think, our leader BS has already claimed a short portion of TPLEx, the stretch from Tarlac City to Gerona town that PIDC opened for operation last December, was a beautiful Christmas gift to the people.

The Palace of course forgot to say that technically it was a gift from the cute administration of Gloriaetta – not the Aquino (Part II) administration.

***

Sometime ago, the local government of Bacoor, Cavite, forced out the husband-and-wife team that successfully operated the public market in the city during the past several years.

Now the spouses Hernando and Flaviana del Rosario are fighting back, as they filed a complaint recently before the Ombudsman, accusing the entire officialdom of Bacoor of violations of graft and corruption.

Included in the complaint were Mayor Strike Revilla, a former director of the PCSO during the time of the cute administration of Gloriaetta, who also happens to be the brother of the currently talk of the town solon, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, meaning that Strike is also the son of former Sen. Ramon “Nardong Putik” Revilla.

It seems that sometime ago, Strike Revilla decided to farm out the construction and operation of the public market, and the contract eventually went to the Del Rosarios.

They said that over the years they were able to manage the market profitably, as they saw two new buildings, thus increasing revenue from leased space. Still, the Bacoor City LGU forced them out of the operations and management of the public market, without even being given any reason.

Basta—the LGU simply declared that the operation of the market under the Del Rosarios was illegal, and that was it.

Anyway, according to the complaint, it was Strike Revilla who originally invited the spouses to invest in the privatization of the public market. And so the Del Rosario took over operations of the market, claiming that they diligently remitted to the LGU and paid the monthly rentals.

The spouses also claimed that, to force them out of the management, the LGU even cut water and electricity supply in the market, even using armed men as a form of intimidation on the management staff. In fact, market rent collectors named Manuel Gallardo and Benito Sy were shot dead the last year.

Believe it or not, those things could happen in a city of that is only a short distance from the metropolis.

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