FACT CHECK: DOTr misleads with conflicting progress reports on Malolos-Clark Railway Project

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has reported to Congress that the Malolos to Clark segment of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), also known as the Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP), is 33.06% completed as of July. This is misleading.

STATEMENT

In the agency’s presentation of its proposed budget for 2025 before the House Committee on Appropriations on Aug. 28, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista reported the “construction progress” of the 53-kilometer Malolos-Clark segment of the NSCR at 33.06% as of July. The presentation included a table showing the progress of construction of the three segments of the NSCR:

Source: House of Representatives, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS – BUDGET BRIEFING/HEARINGS OF THE FY 2025 PROPOSED BUDGET (DOTr), watch from 54:05 to 54:32

Bautista added that the 163–kilometer NSCR would benefit “as much as 800,000 passengers daily,” easing connectivity across Pampanga, Bulacan, Metro Manila and Laguna. He made a similar presentation to the Senate Committee on Finance on Sept. 10.

FACT

A year prior to his presentation, the DOTr’s official Facebook page posted a higher “overall progress” rate for the MCRP at 48.08% as of Aug. 11, 2023.

Another post on Feb. 28, 2023 showed a 40.3% “completion rate” as of January for this segment.

The MCRP, initially scheduled for completion in 2024, has been delayed for at least four more years. The project is divided into five contract packages with varying construction progress.

NSCR-Extension Project Manager Narciso Preclaro Jr. said the current “physical completion” rate of the MCRP is at 49.20%, which is the total weighted average based on the progress of each contract package.

“Iba-iba sila ng progress because iba-iba sila ng situational and construction targets,” Preclaro explained in an interview with VERA Files on Oct. 4.

However, summing up the “construction progress” rates of the five segments and dividing it by five shows a weighted average of 51.86%.

In the semestral report of the DOTr Project Management Office to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the “actual physical completion” was at 43.4% as of March 2024.

ADB bankrolled the MCRP’s civil works for $2.75 billion. Another $2 billion came from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for tracks, depot equipment, power supply and electrification, signaling and telecommunication systems, procurement of rolling stock and consulting services.

Of the five contractors involved in the MCRP, the construction progress of the Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Public Company, Ltd. is at 28.97%. ITD is in charge of building the 12-kilometer viaduct structure and elevated station structure at the Angeles City and Clark stations.

Preclaro said the slow progress rate in contract package No. 03 can be attributed to the “lack of right of way” (ROW) covering the cities of San Fernando and Angeles in Pampanga.

“That’s significant because in those areas, we have a high concentration of informal settler families along the PNR [Philippine National Railway] right of way,” he added.

The MCRP alignment follows the 10 to 20-meter ROW of the PNR. It needs an additional 15 meters on each side from the current center line, based on the recommendation of the JICA’s design team in 2018.

BACKSTORY

The Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation (JOIN) conducted the initial feasibility study for the MCRP in October 2016.

(Read In limbo: Faulty land survey derails right-of-way, relocation for Malolos-Clark Railway)

This was limited to information gathering or surveys to “satisfy the desire” of the Philippine government to complete the MCRP within the term of then-president Rodrigo Duterte. This did not include environmental and social consideration assessments, based on a 2018 report by the JICA.

DOTr Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development Timothy John Batan said the Philippines picked JOIN because “they are able to mobilize feasibility study resources faster” than China, which also expressed interest in the same venture.

“The priority then was we need to do something fast so that we can get NEDA Board approval,” Batan explained.

In 2022 and 2023, the NSCR team started to revalidate and rectify the discrepancies in the initial parcellary surveys, said Preclaro.

Prior to the MCRP’s inception, JOIN inked an agreement with the Philippines’ Bases Conversion and Development Authority to develop Clark Green City, now known as the New Clark City (NCC).

Inquirer.net earlier reported that the P607-billion NCC threatens to displace an Aeta tribe in Capas, Tarlac.

(Read Poor DOTr coordination with LGU delays Malolos-Clark Railway)

JOIN, established in October 2014, is a public-private infrastructure investment fund by the Japanese government that “expedites Japanese enterprises’ entry” into foreign markets especially at the “early stages.” It provides “hands-on” support to infrastructure projects participated in by Japanese companies.

Part of JOIN’s decision-making process is the “due consideration” of a project’s environmental and social aspect and its support would have a positive impact on the project and result in its smooth operations.

This story was produced with support of the Internews Earth Journalism Network.