IRR for railway project seen out soon

The government expects to soon move forward with the long-delayed Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), which involves the construction of a 22.8-kilometer railway line from Quezon City to Bulacan.

The Department of Transportation and Communications is expected to issue in the coming weeks the implementing guidelines for the P62.7-billion railway project, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said.

“We are awaiting an official letter from the Neda (National Economic Development Authority) to give its green light after responding to some minor queries. It should happen (this) week,” Abaya said in a text message.

The DOTC issuance would pave the way for the Department of Finance to separately issue the so-called performance undertaking, a type of guarantee that lenders require before financing the massive railway project  of San Miguel Corp. and businessman Salvador Zamora III.

“There are no more issues remaining,” PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said on the DOTC’s implementing guidelines. She said the PPP Center was not directly involved in this process but the project was covered in its monitoring function.

“Once that is signed and executed, the DOF will issue the performance undertaking,” she added.

The private sector group earlier said it was eyeing to start construction of the massive railway project, which would link with other overhead railways in Metro Manila like the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 and Metro Rail Transit Line 3, this year or early next year.

The gap between the issuance of the government guarantee and start of construction would depend on how soon the proponent can secure third-party funding. In this case, it was expected to come from the Japanese government via an official development assistance loan. This could take between six and 18 months.