Clark is 2nd major gateway under updated transport roadmap

The updated transport roadmap aimed at easing traffic in Metro Manila and surrounding areas will be finished by the Japanese and Philippine governments in November, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) said yesterday.

Also, Japanese financial giant Nomura said in a Sept. 29 note to clients that the Philippine government announced in Tokyo last week that it would soon roll out big-ticket infrastructure projects, including the development of Clark as the second major airport as well as the construction of a 655-kilometer spine expressway on Luzon island.

In a statement, Jica said the follow-up to the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas approved by the Philippine government in 2014 would be ready next month.

Jica is jointly working on the updated roadmap with the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority.

“It’s timely to identify new strategies and solutions to the present traffic situation in Metro Manila and surrounding areas as the administration aggressively pushes for transport infrastructure development under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ agenda. Together with other government agencies and local government units, the follow-up study aims to come up with urban transport strategies addressing traffic demand in the coming years, improve mobility, identify land use management, and identify reforms in the transport sector,” Jica senior representative Tetsuya Yamada said.

Separately, Nomura said that during their Tokyo roadshow, “there was also a very strong sense of priority and urgency focused on the infrastructure sector, not just in the lining up of feasible projects but also in their implementation, with greater transparency and higher accountability” among the Duterte administration’s economic managers.

In line with the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program aimed at ushering in “the golden age of infrastructure,” economic managers disclosed that “the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will be improved and Clark International Airport will be developed as the second major airport (expected to be fully operational by 2020),” Nomura said.

Also, “the recently launched shipping route between Davao City and Bitung (Indonesia) which cut cargo arrival time from 3-5 weeks to 2-3 days will be replicated across the country,” Nomura added.

“A large-scale road modernization program is under way to improve connectivity for tourism, agriculture and industrial sectors, as well as a new 655-kilometer Luzon spine expressway, and various tunneling projects, bridges and flood control projects” under “Build, Build, Build,” according to Nomura.

Citing presentations of economic managers, Nomura also said that “the planned 9,500-hectare Clark Green City (80 kilometers north of Manila) will become the next frontier of property development (after the Bonifacio Global City) with links to major public infrastructure projects (including a Manila-Clark railway to be completed by 2021) and will house government offices to help decongest Manila.” —BEN O. DE VERA