Albay 3rd District Rep. Raymond Adrian Salceda has recently met with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Majority Leader Sandro Marcos to push three big projects designed to further advance the development of Bicol, along with other legislators from the region who call themselves the Bicol Bloc.
Salceda said his group is pushing for the Reactivation of the Bicol River Basin Development Program (BRBDP), the Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Long Haul Project, and the Quezon–Bicol Expressway (QUBEX) or SLEX Toll Road 5.
The young lawmaker said these big-ticket projects were originally espoused by his uncle, former Albay second district congressman Joey Sarte Salceda. He said the BRBDP is an integrated program that will address flooding, rural poverty, low farm productivity, and environmental management concerns.
Salceda specifically stressed his advocacy for the Quinale Development Consortium in his district, which is a sub river basin. The entire Bicol River Basin spans 3,771 square kilometer, with 28 towns and three cities in Albay and Camarines Sur, which comprise about 44 percent of Bicol’s entire population.
He said the BRBDP will provide more effective flood control management in Oas, Libon and Polangui towns in Albay with the regular dredging of the Quinale River, wider irrigation coverage, and community livelihood based on the watershed rehabilitation.
The Bicol Express (railway train) used to be a vital transport link for both passengers and cargo, and the need to revive it is deemed overwhelming. With the PNR South Long Haul Project, the railways will reopen doors for faster commerce, more so since the Bicol Economic Zone at Pantao town will be in place by the time it is completed, he explained.
With a new and reliable railways transport for heavy cargos, he said the wear and tear of the Maharlika Highway will be reduced while logistics costs for farmers and businessmen will go down, Salceda added.
“There is partial funding now from the United States for certain sections of the railway stretch, but the amount is not sufficient so there a need to add more funds for it to cover relocations costs for affected families along the railroad,” said Salceda, who also assured the National Housing Authority will be involved in the project.
The QUBEX or SLEX Toll Road 5, on the other hand, spans 420 kilometers from Lucena in Quezon to Matnog in Sorsogon, and will cost about ₱193.6 billion, equivalent to more or less US$3.38 billion. When completed, Salceda noted, travel time from Manila to Albay will be cut short to five hours, from the current 10 hours to 15 hours.
The engineering design for the 61-kilometer railway segment from Lucena to Gumaca is now on its final phase. Currently, works have been undertaken from Toll Road 4 up to Tiaong town, all in Quezon, but Salceda pledged to push for the speedy completion of the project.
